Huckabee to announce 2016 plans on May 5

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks during the Iowa Agriculture Summit, Saturday, March 7, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks during the Iowa Agriculture Summit, Saturday, March 7, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

5:15 p.m. update:

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced when he will announce whether he plans to launch a 2016 presidential campaign or not on May 5 in Hope, his spokesman confirmed via social media.

Huckabee appeared on Fox News' Special Report with host Bret Baier Friday evening where he announced his announcement plan, spokesman Alice Stewart said on Twitter.

Earlier:

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has an announcement in the offing about his plans for 2016 according to his aide, Hogan Gidley.

Huckabee ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and has been hiring staff for a potential 2016 campaign. He's set to visit New Hampshire on Saturday. While there, he has scheduled a breakfast with supporters and a stop at a gun store. Before he goes, he's speaking with reporters in Washington.

Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor, could make a strong showing among evangelicals in Iowa and South Carolina but would face rivals with much more money for their campaigns, such as Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker.

Rubio and Bush were among those in the early primary state Friday, along with George Pataki. Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to be in New Hampshire to campaign on Monday and Tuesday.

In preparation for a potential presidential run, Huckabee announced his nationally syndicated radio commentary will no longer be broadcast as of May 1, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported. He also in January left his talk show Huckabee that aired on Fox News weekly.

Huckabee hinted at his 2016 plans in a radio segment of his syndicated show that aired Wednesday during First News with Kevin Miller on 102.9 KARN-FM in Little Rock.

"I've had biting and tough commentary about some of the more absurd ways in which Washington defied common sense and busted our family budgets as well as in which their naive and so called smart diplomacy caused us to lose our friends' trust and gain nothing but the ridicule of our enemies,"Huckabee said. "But, as I move closer to the decision to do more than talk about these concerns and do something about them, I will bring the broadcast version to a close.

Huckabee's spokesman Alice Stewart said leaving the radio broadcast was part of a decision whether to run and would "put [Huckabee] in a better position to focus on what he needs to be doing."

Huckabee most recently visited Arkansas in February where he lead a live telecast from a Little Rock church during a stop on his God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy book tour.

Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

ArkansasOnline reporter Danielle Kloap contributed information to this story.

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