The 2016 presidential campaign of Ben Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon and bestselling author, was announced May 3, 2015, in an interview with a local television station in Cincinnati, Ohio. He formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election at a rally in his hometown of Detroit on May 4, 2015. On March 4, 2016, Carson officially ended his campaign in a speech at CPAC. He endorsed Donald Trump on March 11. After Trump won the general election, he selected Carson to be his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, with Carson announcing an additional administration role overseeing the repeal and replacement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Background 2013 National Prayer Breakfast Carson entered the political scene at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast on February 7. In his speech, he commented on political correctness ("dangerous", because it goes against freedom of expression), education, health care, and taxation. Regarding education, he spoke favorably about graduation rates in 1831, when Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States, and when "anybody finishing the second grade was completely literate". He espoused the idea of a tax-exempt health savings account created at birth, that can be bequeathed at death, along with an electronic medical record and birth certificate. He supports a flat tax, which he calls the "proportional tax" in reference to the biblical tithe. The speech garnered Carson considerable attention because the event is normally apolitical in nature, and the speech was critical of the philosophy and policies of President Barack Obama, who was sitting less than 10 feet away. Conservative commentators from Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity and Neil Cavuto of Fox News praised the speech as an example of speaking "truth to power". The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed article the day after the Prayer Breakfast titled "Ben Carson for President", which said that "the Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon may not be politically correct, but he's closer to correct than anything we've heard in years."
Polling Carson was a featured speaker at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and tied for seventh place in the Washington Times/CPAC 2013 Straw Poll with 4% of the 3,000 ballots cast. In the 2014 CPAC straw poll, he came in third place with 9% of the vote, behind senators Ted Cruz of Texas (with 11%) and Rand Paul of Kentucky (31%). In the 2015 CPAC poll, Carson came in fourth behind Paul, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, and Cruz with 11.4%.
Carson also had a strong showing in the polls at the 2013 and 2014 Values Voter Summits; in 2013, he tied with former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum for second place with 13%, behind Ted Cruz's 42%. In 2014, he came in second with 20%, behind Cruz's 25%, and also came in first place in the same group's vice presidential poll.
In February 2014 a Baltimore Sun poll ranked him first among potential Republican candidates, with 24% (Jeb Bush was in second place with 15%); in another during the same month, an online poll of 62,000 conservative activists, Carson came in third. In an interview with The Weekly Standard in May 2014, Carson said that he was "warming up to the idea" of a presidential run. In June 2014, Carson appeared in the first national poll for the 2016 presidential election through Rasmussen. In a hypothetical race against Hillary Clinton, Carson tied with Rand Paul for the strongest showing out of any potential Republican nominee, trailing Clinton by only 7%.Barnes, Fred (May 16, 2014) "Ben Carson Moves Toward Presidential Run", The Weekly Standard. Retrieved May 19, 2014. Carson also polled well in a Cygnal poll in Alabama, where he came in second behind Jeb Bush.Ponnuru, Ramesh (May 15, 2014) "Ben Carson Thinks He Just May Have to Run", Bloomberg View. Retrieved May 16, 2014."Alabama Primary Runoff Flash Poll – 07/10/14". Cygnal, July 10, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
"Draft Ben Carson Committee" and fundraising A group using the catchphrase "Run, Ben, Run" got started to draft him for the Republican nomination. The organization, then called the "National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee" and later known as "The 2016 Committee", was founded by John Philip Sousa IV, a great-grandson of John Philip Sousa. It has also served as the primary fundraiser for a potential campaign, with Sousa reporting on April 12 that the movement had raised over 4 million, and that a potential campaign apparatus, from television ads to mailing lists, had already been set up.Bedard, Paul (February 11, 2014) "Ted Cruz, Rand Paul top huge Tea Party poll; Chris Christie, Jeb Bush dead last", The Washington Examiner. At the end of June 2014, the Draft Committee reported that it had raised over 7 million from 91,000 donors."Timeline Photos – National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee". Facebook.com. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
On August 2, 2014, it was reported that Carson had officially approved the formation of his own Political Action Committee, named One Nation, and also appointed Texas businessman Terry Giles as chairman of a potential presidential campaign. Carson suggested that his final decision on whether or not to run would depend on the results of the 2014 midterms, and whether the Republicans would regain control of the U.S. Senate. This announcement came shortly after Sousa reported that the draft committee had raised yet another 1 million, resulting in 8 million raised overall."Carson Takes Major Steps Toward A 2016 White House Bid". Fox News Channel, August 2, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2014.Solomon, John, "Ben Carson Takes Major Step Toward Presidential Campaign", The Washington Times, August 1, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
When interviewed by radio host Hugh Hewitt in late September 2014, Carson said "the likelihood is strong" that he would run for president.Sullivan, Peter (September 23, 2014), "Ben Carson: 'Strong' Chance I'll Run in '16". The Hill. Retrieved December 1, 2014. In October 2014 Bloomberg Politics reported that the Draft Carson movement out-fundraised the pro-Hillary Clinton PAC Ready for Hillary in the third quarter of 2014,Mattingly, Phil (October 15, 2014) – "Ben Carson's Longshot Presidential Bid Suddenly Looks a Lot More Realistic". Bloomberg. Retrieved December 1, 2014. shortly after an Iowa poll by the Des Moines Register showed Carson in second place among potential 2016 candidates, only behind Mitt Romney. He came in second place in a similar Fox News poll, behind former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee by 1%.
In early November 2014, following the Republicans' recapture of the Senate, Carson announced that he would air an hour-long ad called A Breath of Fresh Air: A New Prescription for America to introduce himself in 22 states.Walshe, Shushannah, "Republican Ben Carson Hints He May Throw His Hat in the 2016 Ring". ABC News, November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2014."Thinking 2016? Ben Carson to Air Hour-Long Ad This Weekend". Fox News Channel, November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2014. This move, along with Carson's announcement that he was officially switching his political affiliation from independent to Republican,Welcome to 2016: Ben Carson officially changes party affiliation to the GOP, The Week (November 5, 2014). spurred even more speculation that he would run for the Republican nomination.
On November 7, Fox News and Carson confirmed that his relationship with the cable news channel had ended. Carson had been hired by Fox News in October 2013.
In January 2015, The Weekly Standard reported that the Draft Carson Committee had raised 13 million by the end of 2014, shortly after Carson performed well in a CNN/ORC poll of potential candidates in December 2014, coming in second in two different versions: He came in second with 10% behind Mitt Romney's 20%, but in the same poll with Romney removed from the list, Carson closed the gap with 11% to Jeb Bush's 14%. The Wall Street Journal mentioned that the Draft Carson Committee had chairmen in all of Iowa's 99 counties, and that Carson had recently come in first place in two separate Public Policy polls for the state of Pennsylvania.
The National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee helped make the retired neurosurgeon the first candidate successfully drafted for president since 1964, when Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, an early leader of conservatism in the United States, won the GOP nomination.
Many considered the fact that Carson has never held public office to be one of his largest obstacles, as only one person, Wendell Willkie, has ever been nominated by a major party without having held public office or flag rank in the armed forces. His lack of political experience, however, also has been acclaimed by both himself and others, as they argue that it shows him to be someone who can relate to the people of the US, rather than being the "typical politician", and that the teams of doctors he has overseen; his nonprofit scholarship program, which is in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.; and especially his corporate board work at Kellogg's and Costco for 18 and 16 years respectively provide him with enough experience for the presidency as well as help him to relate with the people of the real world as president.
Campaign On May 2, 2015, Carson proclaimed that in two days, he was going to make a major announcement on his decision on whether to enter the presidential race. In an interview with a Cincinnati TV station WKRC (AM) on May 3, 2015, Carson accidentally confirmed his candidacy for president. The interview was also broadcast live on WPEC. The next day, May 4, 2015, at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in his home town of Detroit, he officially announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The announcement speech was preceded by a choir singing "Lose Yourself" with Carson sitting in the audience. After the song, Carson took the stage and announced his candidacy alongside a rousing speech on his rags to riches life story; at one point, he stated: "I remember when our favorite drug dealer was killed." At the event, he announced his campaign team, which included his campaign manager, Barry Bennett.
In late March 2015, Carson had his first-ever victory in a national poll for the 2016 GOP field when a Fox News poll showed him tied for first place with former Florida governor Jeb Bush (each candidate polled at 13%). He continued to poll well in Fox News polls, later matching this same result in early May. He also tied for first in a Quinnipiac University poll along with four others, all at 10% each; the others were Bush, Mike Huckabee, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker. In an early June poll by The Economist and YouGov, Carson tied once more with Rubio for first, at 10% each. His first ever first-place performance in a national poll came in mid-June, in a Monmouth University poll that had him at 11%.
In late May, Carson won the presidential straw poll at the 2015 Southern Republican Leadership Conference, with 25.4% of the vote, and in July he came first in a straw poll of the Washington, D.C. Republican Party, with 44%. Carson also came in first in two consecutive annual polls from the Western Conservative Summit; in 2014, he won 22% of the vote, and in 2015, he won with 26% – 224 votes out of 871 total.Bunch, Joey. The Denver Post, July 20, 2014, "Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin top Western Conservative Summit straw poll for '16".