Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is giving it another go and running for president in 2016, he announced on Tuesday.
Before making his announcement at his campaign kickoff event in Hope, Arkansas, Huckabee recounted growing up nearby and attending high school and college in the state.
“So it would be fitting that it would be here that I would announce that I am a candidate for president of the United States of America,” Huckabee said.
Huckabee’s announcement is the latest, with Republicans neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina both announcing their candidacies for president this week. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Rand Paul (R-KY) have also already announced.
Huckabee last ran for president in 2008 but withdrew after it became clear that his path to victory over Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in the Republican primary was impossible.
This time around, Huckabee’s strategy centers on economic populism and hawkish language on foreign affairs. Huckabee is also very conservative on issues like same-sex marriage or abortion. Huckabee, most recently, split with most of the declared 2016 field and bashed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) proposed cuts to Social Security.
The conservative outside group The Club for Growth, a longtime critic of Huckabee’s, released a statement on Tuesday ahead of the former governor’s released a statement attacking him on taxes and spending.
“If Governor Huckabee’s record looked more like candidate Huckabee’s talk, then perhaps he could be the economic conservative he claims,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh said in a statement. “But Huckabee’s record of high taxes and big spending, and his continued defense of that record, still ranks him among the worst GOP presidential contenders on the crucial issues of cutting the size, scope, and cost of government, and lowering taxes.”
