The field of candidates for the Republican nomination has just doubled in size.

“I’m willing to be part of the equation and therefore, I’m announcing my candidacy for President of the United States of America.” With that, Carson is off and running. He rose from poverty in Detroit to the head of the pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
He’s now retired from medicine. “Many people have suggested to me that I should run for president, even though I’m not a politician,” Carson said.

His official kickoff was in his hometown of Detroit.

Carson chose Detroit, the town in which he grew up, for the announcement and began the day with a prayer breakfast with city pastors, then spoke to an assembly at the Detroit high school that bears his name before heading to the official launch of his presidential campaign.

I'm in it!

— Dr. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson) May 4, 2015

Fiorina, who had previously run for the Senate in California against Barbara Boxer in 2010, announced her candidacy this morning on “Good Morning America.”

And a video posted on her newly unveiled campaign website, carlyforpresident.com, kicks off with a shot of Fiorina watching Clinton’s campaign announcement video.

“If you’re tired of the sound bites, the vitriol, the pettiness, the egos, the corruption; if you believe that it’s time to declare the end of identity politics; if you believe that it’s time to declare the end of lowered expectations; if you believe that it’s time for citizens to stand up to the political class and say enough, then join us,” Fiorina says.

Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, is expected to announce his candidacy tomorrow, having left his Fox News show in order to prepare some months ago. Out of these three, Huckabee is the only one who has previously held elected office, but he will have an uphill battle to gain momentum.

“If you really aren’t on the verge of winning — kind of being the party’s heir apparent — you end up running weaker the second time around,” said Andrew Dowdle, an associate professor of political science at the University of Arkansas who specializes in the presidential nomination process. “The odds are stacked against him there.”

When Huckabee won the crucial Iowa caucuses in 2008, buoyed by the support of evangelical voters, he didn’t have to compete hard against other candidates for that slice of the electorate. In 2016, however, Huckabee will face competitors during primary season such as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, with others possibly being retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who won Iowa in 2012 and stayed in the race against the eventual nominee Mitt Romney with the support from wealthy benefactor Foster Friess.

“That niche is a niche that is pretty well occupied by candidates who are either new or more unique candidates like Ben Carson or Ted Cruz, who might be viewed as a better choice in that niche,” Dowdle said.

With these three additions, it’s my opinion that the GOP now has some more options… for vice-president. Looking seriously at the field, both Carson and Fiorina, despite their great personal qualifications, have not held either elected office or has any military experience – something each president up until now has had under their belt, either one or the other, or both. As for Huckabee, I just can’t shake my gut reaction that his announcement is nothing more than a vanity run. Whether the American public can get behind and support any of these three candidates is a huge question that we have the next year to figure out.