Former HP CEO running for president

Alex Hanson

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has announced she will seek the Republican nomination for president in 2016.

“I am running for president. I think I am the best person for the job,” Fiorina said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” this morning, adding her private sector experience and executive decision making makes her best qualified to lead.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call Monday morning, Fiorina answered questions about having little name recognition, fundraising, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and what a Florina presidency would look like.

“There has been a greater reception to my candidacy than I think many might have expected,” Fiorina said. “We continue to see that in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Our path going forward is to continue to meet with as many as possible.”

While Florina said she respects Clinton’s accomplishments, she said she has not been trustworthy on a number of issues.

“She is the personification of the professional political class,” Fiorina said. 

Fiorina also said while her campaign will not raise the most money, she will be able to raise some. She also said she is confident she will be included in Republican primary debates, despite her low polling numbers.

Fiorina, 60, is a relatively new face in American politics. She served as CEO of HP beginning in 1999 until her forced resignation in 2005. Following her resignation, she served as an adviser to Arizona Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008. She also ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in her home state of California in 2010.

Fiorina has “actively” been exploring a presidential run since late 2014 and has traveled to early voting states several times, including Iowa.

She was in Iowa two weeks ago and made over a dozen stops around Iowa to meet with potential supporters, including a stop at a Pizza Ranch in Ames.

During speeches recently, Fiorina has taken aim at Clinton, casting herself as a female alternative to the Democratic frontrunner.

Campaign aides have announced she will be back in Iowa this week on Thursday for a meet and greet in Cedar Rapids and as a speaker at the Dallas County Speakers Series in West Des Moines.

Fiorina will also speak at a technology firm in New York tomorrow and plans to make stops in New Hampshire and South Carolina later in the week.

Fiorina joins three other Republicans in the race for the GOP nomination. U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio have announced their campaigns. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson also announced his campaign this morning in Detroit and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will announce his decision on a 2016 run at an event in Arkansas tomorrow.