U.S. Senator Ted Cruz says he is running for President

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) addresses the International Association of Firefighters delegates at IAFF Presidential Forum in Washington, in this March 10, 2015, file photo. Cruz will announce his plan to seek the Republican presidential nomination on Monday, a Cruz aide told Reuters on March 22, 2015. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/Files

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, one of the Republican Party’s most conservative members, announced early on Monday he is running for the party’s 2016 presidential nomination, making him the first among what is expected to be a crowded field of White House hopefuls to officially enter the race.

“I’m running for President and I hope to earn your support!” he tweeted. In an early preview of his campaign message, he says in an accompanying video that “it is going to take a new generation of courageous conservatives to make America great again.”

Several other Republicans are expected to enter the race in the coming weeks, including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and two Senate colleagues, Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Florida’s Marco Rubio.

Mr. Cruz, 44, is the son of an American mother and Cuban-born father and would be the nation’s first Hispanic President.

Who is Ted Cruz?

Texas Senator Ted Cruz is one of the Republican Party’s most conservative members.

He is the first among what is expected to be a crowded field of White House hopefuls to officially enter the race.

The Canadian-born son of a Cuban immigrant, Cruz would be the first Hispanic in the White House if he wins the November 2016 election.

His time in the Senate

Cruz, 44, has built a reputation as an unyielding advocate for conservative principles in his two years in the Senate.

In his time in the Senate, he has sometimes drawn the scorn of senior Republicans.

Arizona Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, famously called him and other Tea Party lawmakers "wacko birds" in 2013.

Taking on Obama

Later in 2013, Cruz pushed his party to force a 16-day government shutdown in an unsuccessful effort to deny funding to US President Barack Obama's healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act.

He led a similar effort this year, also unsuccessful, to block Mr. Obama's effort to remove the threat of deportation for some undocumented immigrants.

He has called for abolishing the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service and stationing its agents on the U.S.-Mexico border.