Struggling U.S. presidential candidate Ted Cruz has picked former computer technology executive and ex-foe for the nomination Carly Fiorina as his vice presidential running mate.
Cruz, who trails Donald Trump in the race for the Republican nomination, called her an "extraordinary leader" who has the experience and intelligence to take over the presidency if necessary.
Fiorina once headed the computer giant Hewlett-Packard before being ousted in a corporate boardroom shakeup.
She ran for the Republican nomination and appeared in a number of debates before dropping out of the race in February after winning little support from voters. After Cruz announced her as his running mate, she said she was "proud, humbled and honored" to accept.
Candidates usually wait until their party conventions before naming a vice presidential running mate.
But Cruz, who has no mathematical chance of catching Trump in the delegate count, has vowed to stop Trump from securing the nomination at July's Republican convention.
He is looking toward a deadlocked brokered convention, and hopes that having Fiorino already on his team would help him win the nomination on a second or third ballot.
Trump mocked Cruz for choosing a running mate so early. He said the Texas senator "doesn't even have a chance" of winning the nomination.
