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It looks highly likely that ex-Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina will take her business and less-extensive political experience and jump into what will be a busy 2016 presidential race.
Speaking on Fox News Sunday March 29, Fiorina said there is a “higher than 90 percent” chance she will run for the Republican nomination, and she expects to announce her decision in late April or early May. More than a dozen people are expected to jump into the Republican race for the presidency. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on March 23 became the first candidate to publicly announce his campaign.
Fiorina, whose only other try at political office resulted in a 10-point loss to incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., in 2010, despite the overall election season being a GOP wave. She also has been active in Republican politics, including working on Arizona Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign against eventual winner Barack Obama.
Most recently, Fiorina has been vocal in her criticism of Hillary Clinton, the former senator and first lady who is considered the presumptive Democratic nominee. During her Fox News interview, she said Clinton “lacks a track record of accomplishment. She is not candid, which suggests her character is flawed.” Fiorina also questioned Clinton’s knowledge of technology in regard to using a private server for business email when she was secretary of state.
Fiorina, who has been talked about as a possible candidate for several months, is best known for her six-year term as CEO of HP, which ended when the board of directors fired her in 2005. The highlight of her tenure was HP’s controversial $24 billion acquisition of rival PC maker Compaq in 2002. However, during the interview, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace said that should she run, Fiorina also would be questioned about other aspects of her time at HP, from the more than 30,000 employees laid off to a company stock drop of 49 percent.
The former CEO pushed back, noting gains in revenues and market share in a range of areas, and said she helped steer the company through a difficult time after the tech bubble burst. Fiorina, a breast cancer survivor, also said her time at HP and the business world gave her expertise that other candidates don’t have, from an understanding of how the economy and world works to technology’s transformational potential to the demands put upon a president.
“I understand executive decision-making, which is making tough calls in tough times with high stakes for which you’re prepared to be held accountable,” she said.