Michigan Congresswoman Candice Miller announced Wednesday that she plans to support Carly Fiorina for president, marking the Republican hopeful’s second congressional endorsement this week.
In a video posted to her Facebook page, Miller said it is both her and her Republican colleagues’ responsibility to “pick the very best-prepared candidate to carry our Party’s banner.”
“I hear a lot of people say that maybe it’s time for America to have its first woman president,” Miller said in the short video. “And the person who I believe best meets that criteria also just happens to be a woman.”
“That woman is Carly Fiorina … a bold dynamic conservative leader,” she added.
Miller, who serves as chairwoman of the Committee on House Administration, joins fellow Republican Rep. Lynn Jenkins in endorsing the only female GOP candidate. On Monday, Jenkins became the first federal lawmaker to publicly back Fiorina, who holds the No. 2 spot behind front-runner Donald Trump in the latest Washington Examiner presidential power rankings.
Both congresswomen cited Fiorina’s business expertise and foreign policy credentials as key factors behind their separate endorsements. In addition to serving as CEO of tech giant Hewlett-Packard for nearly six years, Fiorina once acted as an external adviser to the Central Intelligence Agency and has often touted her history of diplomatic relationships with foreign leaders on the campaign trail.
“Carly is a woman who has a proven record of bold, decisive leadership in the private sector, and also a clear understanding of the national security threats we face in a dangerous world, both at home and abroad,” Miller said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Jenkins described Fiorina as a “no nonsense businesswoman” in her statement of support Monday, just weeks after telling reporters she would forego endorsing a 2016 candidate.
“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 Monday.
The pair of congressional endorsements mark a turning point in Fiorina’s campaign. Though she’s previously struggled to earn the same name recognition as some of her more widely known opponents, her “winning” performances in both Republican primary debates catapulted her to the No. 2 spot in the GOP field, according to a CNN/ORC poll released Sunday.
The rising GOP darling is busy courting voters in South Carolina this week with campaign stops in Iowa throughout the upcoming weekend.
