Texas Senator Ted Cruz is expected to announce Monday that he is running for president.
The 44-year-old first term senator will be the first high-profile candidate to formally launch a bid for the Republican Party presidential nomination. Several Republican contenders are expected to enter the race in the coming weeks.
Cruz, who joined the Senate in 2013 is a favorite of the conservative Tea Party movement, has hinted openly about his intention to seek the White House.
He promises to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law, abolish the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service and scrap the Education Department.
Among Republican politicians expected to announce a candidacy are former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, and Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Florida's Marco Rubio.
The son of an American mother and Cuban-born father, Cruz would be the nation's first Hispanic president.
Cruz was born in Canada, but two lawyers who have represented presidents from both parties at the Supreme Court recently wrote in the Harvard Law Review that Cruz meets the constitutional standard to be able to run for president.
