Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina officially said she’s running for president in 2016.
Fiorina announced her bid for the Republican nomination Monday morning. She is the second woman to announce a run for president so far, following Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. As of now, Fiorina is expected to be the only major female candidate on the Republican side.
In a video announcing her campaign, Fiorina also took some time to take a shot at Hillary. The beginning of her video shows a clip of Hillary Clinton’s announcement video. After the clip, Fiorina says, “Our founders never intended us to have a professional political class.”
In a news conference following the announcement, Fiorina said Clinton “is the personification of the professional political class,” according NBC News.
Many people have suggested that Ms. Fiorina is Hillary’s political antidote. Analyst Nia-Malika Henderson of CNN said, “She has really framed herself as being the anti-Hillary Clinton.”
Although Fiorina has never held elected office, she served as the CEO of HP from 1999 to 2005. According to ABC News, Fiorina was also an economic advisor to Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008. On Good Morning America, Fiorina defended her lack of political experience, saying that many Americans “believe that we need to return to a citizen government.”
Ms. Fiorina will join Ben Carson (who also announced his campaign today) and Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul on the GOP side of the presidential race. Former Governor Mike Huckabee is set to announce his own campaign for president on Tuesday.
Fiorina plans on traveling to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina later this week, and will also be promoting her new book, Rising to the Challenge: My Leadership Journey.
