Carson and Huckabee joining race for president
Two Florida residents will return to their out-of-state roots this week to push their presidential candidacies.
First up is Ben Carson, of West Palm Beach. The retired pediatric neurosurgeon, who spent his career at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, announced his candidacy Sunday night. “I’m willing to be part of the equation,” Carson said in a TV interview. “Therefore, I’m announcing my candidacy for president of the United States of America.”
Carson will hold a campaign rally in his hometown of Detroit on Monday.
Second is Mike Huckabee, a resident of Santa Rosa Beach in Florida’s Panhandle. He will return to his hometown of Hope, Ark., in the state he served as governor, to declare his intentions on Tuesday.
Neither is a household name. But both are familiar to Republican Party primary voters thanks to their time on Fox News. Huckabee hosted a show on the channel, leaving in January. Carson was a regular Fox News contributor for a little more than a year, a relationship that ended in November.
Republican insiders and independent analysts don’t put either in the top tier of presidential candidates, though Florida has two native sons considered top contenders for the nomination: former Gov. Jeb Bush, who hasn’t officially declared but is campaigning and raising money; and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who announced his candidacy on April 13.
Test your knowledge of Carson and Huckabee at SunSentinel.com/ candidatequiz, or turn inside to Page 9A for the quiz.