Rising Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina received her first endorsement from a sitting member of Congress, just days after a strong debate performance that catapulted her to second place in the Washington Examiner‘s power rankings.
Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., announced Sunday that she is backing the female GOP hopeful’s presidential bid and will serve as Fiorina’s co-chair in Kansas throughout the primary election cycle. In a statement to the Topeka Capital-Journal, Jenkins described the former secretary-turned-CEO as “proof that the American dream still exists.”
“Starting as a secretary and fighting her way to the very top, it is clear this is not a woman who was handed things; she had to fight for every bit of success she has achieved,” Jenkins reportedly said.
“As a CPA who practiced public accounting for nearly 20 years before coming to Congress, I recognize when a system is as badly broken as Washington is, it is best to look to the outside for a new direction,” she added. “Carly Fiorina is exactly the strong, steady, no nonsense businesswoman that our nation so desperately needs.”
The endorsement from Jenkins, who serves as vice chair of the House Republican Conference and is the fifth-highest ranking GOP member of the U.S. House of Representatives, adds to a surge of support for Fiorina since he standout debate performance last Wednesday. The former business executive earned praise among conservatives after delivering strong answers on foreign policy and daring President Obama and Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton to watch the videos showing Planned Parenthood officials haggling over the price of fetal body parts.
“When I think of the critical challenges our nation faces, whether it’s job creation domestically or thuggish dictators and terror networks internationally, I can think of no one better to face them down than Carly Fiorina,” Jenkins said.
According to the Capital-Journal, Jenkins had previously declined to endorse a presidential candidate in the current election cycle. Instead, she reportedly said her support would go to whoever secures the Republican nomination.
“I don’t think the field is complete yet so I will not be picking a presidential horse, but I bet you can count on me supporting the winner of the Republican primary,” she told reporters in her home state in early August.
While Jenkins is the first federal lawmaker to publicly support Fiorina, the only female in the GOP field has earned endorsements from several California-based agricultural organizations, former U.S. Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-N.Y., and Maine state Sen. Amy Volk. Emmy award-winning actor James Woods, who is narrating a forthcoming documentary by Fiorina’s super PAC, also endorsed the White House hopeful on Twitter recently.
At 15 percent support, Fiorina jumped to the No. 2 spot behind GOP front-runner Donald Trump in a CNN/ORC poll of Republican voters released Sunday. She is slated to return to South Carolina this week to continue courting voters in the early primary state.
