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 News from Around the Americas | October 2006 
Rep. Duncan Hunter to Run for President
 Marty Graham - Reuters
| | House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Duncan Hunter, (R-CA) talk to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 20, 2005. Hunter announced plans on Monday for a longshot presidential bid in 2008. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters) |
Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record), the House Armed Services Committee chairman who coauthored legislation to build a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, announced plans on Monday for a longshot presidential bid in 2008.
Hunter, who said support for a strong military and the fight against illegal immigration would be two of his top issues, is the first established Republican to say he would form an exploration committee for a 2008 presidential run.
Hunter will join what is expected to be a crowded field of presidential hopefuls in 2008, with about a dozen other Republicans and an equal number of Democrats lining up for runs at their party's nomination.
"As I finish my final two years as chairman of the Armed Services Committee and serve you, I am also going to be preparing for a run for president of the United States," Hunter said at a news conference in San Diego.
"This is going to be a long road, it's going to be a challenging road," he said. "But I think it's the right thing to do for our country."
Hunter, a Vietnam veteran first elected to the House in 1980, coauthored the Secure Fence Act to build a 700-mile fence along the U.S. border with Mexico that was signed into law last week by President George W. Bush.
The legislation was popular with conservatives favoring a strong approach to illegal immigration. Another conservative activist who favors a tough approach to illegal immigration, Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, is considering a presidential bid.
Hunter said he decided to announce his White House plans after traveling to Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Arizona and Oklahoma earlier this month. His announcement took the Republican Party leadership by surprise.
"In typical Duncan Hunter fashion, I didn't consult with any Republican leaders," Hunter said.
Hunter expressed strong support for Bush on Monday, saying the president deserves credit for five years of no new attacks against Americans by terrorists.
Hunter is favored to win re-election to the House next week in San Diego, where Democratic challenger John Rinaldi's anti-war message may be lost on the largely Republican district.
But Hunter would lose his chairmanship of the prestigious Armed Services Committee if voters sweep Democrats into power in the House in the November 7 election. Democrats are favored to pick up the 15 seats they need to claim control of the chamber.
Among the other Republicans considering a run for president are Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) of Arizona, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
(Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles) |
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