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Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina hired a new spokeswoman for her PAC
Some see this as a sign of a step closer toward a 2016 presidential bid
Former California tech executive Carly Fiorina has hired a top Republican National Committee spokeswoman to join her political action committee, another signal she is taking steps toward a bid for the White House later this year, CNN has learned.
Sarah Isgur Flores, the RNC’s deputy communications director, will leave the party group for Fiorina’s super PAC, Unlocking Potential, starting Monday. A Harvard Law School-educated attorney, she previously worked as the political director for Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign and advised presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012. Should Fiorina transition the PAC’s operations into a presidential campaign, Isgur Flores would serve as deputy campaign manager, according to the PAC.
“Carly Fiorina is a sharp, thoughtful and committed conservative leader who believes in the limitless potential of all Americans, and I’m looking forward to getting started,” Flores said in an emailed statement.
Her latest staffing moves comes at the same time other potential GOP candidates are beginning to take a serious look at building their own campaigns, namely former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who this week cut his business and non-profit ties to focus on his political future.
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Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in California in 2010, has never held public office, but she is currently the only Republican woman to publicly express serious interest in running for the party nomination. She visited in New Hampshire last year, the state that holds the first-in-the-nation primary, and plans to attend a forum in Iowa, another early-voting state, later this month.
Fiorina founded Unlocking Potential in 2014, which raised about $1.8 million for the mid-term election cycle to support Republican Senate candidates in Iowa, Colorado, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Colorado, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
