Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush will “actively explore” running for President in 2016, according to announcements that he posted on his Facebook and Twitter accounts on Tuesday.
Bush began his announcement talking about spending the holidays with his family. He said that he had been having conversations with them “about the future of this nation,” and because of these conversations and “thoughtful consideration of the kind of strong leadership I think America needs,” he had “decided to actively explore the possibility of running for President of the United States.”
Bush also wrote that he would be establishing a Leadership PAC in January to “facilitate conversations with citizens across America to discuss the most critical challenges facing our exceptional nation” and “to support leaders, ideas and policies that will expand opportunity and prosperity for all Americans.”
After falling short to Democrat Lawton Chiles in the 1994 elections, Bush was elected governor of Florida in 1998 and served two terms. If successful, he would be the third in his immediate family to serve as Commander-in-Chief, along with his father, George H. W. Bush, and his brother, George W. Bush. Bush’s son, George P. Bush, was just elected this November to be Texas’ next Land Commissioner.
Bush did not specify when he would make a final decision about officially entering the race, but the formation of a leadership PAC has become the new preliminary step for prospective presidential candidates. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, also rumored to be considering a presidential run, formed his own PAC, Reclaim America, after being elected to the Senate in 2010.
Full text of Jeb Bush’s announcement, via Facebook:
A Note from Jeb Bush
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!
Like many of you, our family was blessed with the opportunity to gather together over the recent Thanksgiving holiday.
Columba and I are so proud of the wonderful adults our children have become, and we loved spending time with our three precious grandchildren.
We shared good food and watched a whole lot of football.
We also talked about the future of our nation. As a result of these conversations and thoughtful consideration of the kind of strong leadership I think America needs, I have decided to actively explore the possibility of running for President of the United States.
In January, I also plan to establish a Leadership PAC that will help me facilitate conversations with citizens across America to discuss the most critical challenges facing our exceptional nation. The PAC’s purpose will be to support leaders, ideas and policies that will expand opportunity and prosperity for all Americans.
In the coming months, I hope to visit with many of you and have a conversation about restoring the promise of America.
Best wishes to you and your families for a happy holiday season. I’ll be in touch soon.
Onward,
Jeb Bush
Photo credit: Jeb Bush via Facebook.
Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter @rumpfshaker.