According to the Houston Chronicle, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will announce Monday that he’s running for 2016 Republican Presidential nomination. The announcement will come at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. and now he is the second person to join in the race joining Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul who officially registered but has not yet announced.
The move will make Cruz, who came to national prominence in part for his 2013 filibuster on the Senate floor against Obamacare, the first GOP presidential candidate. The Cruz move could speed up the expected April announcement of Floridian’s, former Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio.
Other’s expected to join the field in the next 60 days will be Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Dr. Ben Carson, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
With Monday’s formal declaration of candidacy, Sen. Cruz will be free to raise money for his presidential campaign directly, rather than relying on donations to a political-action committee supporting him. Some donors are reluctant to give to candidates before they formally announce.