With the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman will formally launch his presidential bid next Tuesday at Liberty State Park in New Jersey and continue the week with a fly-around to most of the early-voting primary states.
Allies of his campaign say that after the announcement, he will head to New Hampshire. On Wednesday, he’ll be in South Carolina, followed by Florida on Thursday, Utah on Friday and Nevada on Saturday. The only traditional early state he’s skipping is Iowa, where he has said he won’t be competing, anyway.
Advisers to Huntsman started alerting news outlets to the announcement the morning after the second GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire, trying to stomp on some of the momentum that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney achieved in a winning performance Monday night.
Huntsman didn’t participate in the CNN/WMUR/Union Leader debate, but his entry in the race next week virtually ensures that he’ll be onstage with his competitors the next time they meet.
Erin McPike is a national political reporter for RealClearPolitics. She can be reached at emcpike@realclearpolitics.com.
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