Carly Fiorina

I ran for president because I believe it is time to take our country back from Washington and restore power to the people. I still believe that. In fact, I believe it more than ever. It is time to challenge and reform the system that has put too much economic and political power in the hands of too few. It is time to put a real constitutional conservative in the White House.

My husband and I live in Virginia where we had a primary recently. While my own name was on the ballot, I checked the box for Ted Cruz.



Ted Cruz is a leader and a reformer who isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers when he is fighting for the American people.



When Republicans lost the last presidential election, the Republican establishment thought it knew just what to do: Pass comprehensive immigration reform. Stop talking about “social issues.” Go along and get along. Rather than fight for real change, they stood by as our government grew increasingly incompetent and corrupt.



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But they didn't count on Ted Cruz. They didn’t predict that against all the odds, Texas had just elected a Senator who is a true constitutional conservative, a real reformer, and who definitely doesn’t care if the Washington cartel invites him to their cocktail parties.



We need a constitutional conservative to unite our party. Ted has spent his life defending the Constitution. My father was a conservative judge on the very liberal ninth circuit. It takes someone of true principles and convictions like my dad and like Ted Cruz to stick to their guns. Ted has been fighting these fights for decades — whether it’s for religious liberty, our right to keep and bear arms or American sovereignty. And he has won.



We need a leader and a reformer to challenge the system in Washington and fix the festering problems — whether it’s our broken immigration system or the IRS. Throughout my career, I have learned that if you are a real leader, you absolutely must challenge the status quo. Sometimes you make enemies. It’s the price of leadership. But it’s also the way to deflate the bloated bureaucracy and return prosperity to the people.

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That’s exactly what Ted Cruz will do. He’ll grow opportunities not for the government but for the hardworking men and women who are the heart and soul of this great nation. He will abolish the IRS, end the loopholes for Washington’s special interests and set one low rate of 10% for all individuals. When April 15 comes, you can simply fill out your taxes on a postcard and carry on with your real work.

And rather than choking Americans’ innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, Ted Cruz will clean out the excess spending and regulations in Washington, starting with Obamacare. He will audit the Fed and restore a stable dollar. When we do that, we will open up an economic landscape that welcomes new ideas, free enterprise and booming job creation.

As a result of tax, regulatory and monetary reform, rather than millions of Americans facing no job prospects, or stuck in low-paying jobs with no hope of a raise, we will see 4.8 million new jobs created and double-digit increase in take-home pay for Americans across the board, according to the Tax Foundation.

That’s the economic opportunity we can achieve if we challenge the status quo. Yet some in our party are saying they’d prefer a liberal like Donald Trump because he is a deal maker. He has indeed mastered the deal: Donald buys politicians like Hillary Clinton and continues only to serve the big, powerful and well-connected.

Donald Trump can’t reform the system; he’s part of it. In fact, if we judge a leader on his record, we know what he’ll do: use public power for private gain. We’ve had seven years of that, and we don’t need a single year more.

If we want to defeat Donald Trump, we must defeat him by offering citizens conservative solutions to the problems in their lives.

Ted Cruz is the only candidate who can beat Donald Trump — and who can do so by laying out an optimistic vision of the future — one that recognizes the dignity, purpose, meaning of each person and enables them to reach their potential. That’s the way to beat Donald, and it’s the way to defeat Hillary come November.

We need a candidate who will stand for working Americans and who will restore freedom and prosperity by championing conservative principles. We need a nominee who will never settle for the status quo, and who will unite conservatives, Republicans, and all Americans who want to unlock a future filled with promise or our kids and grand-kids.

It’s time we take our party back, our government back, our country back. It is time to unite behind Ted Cruz. I ask you to join me so that together we reform Washington and restore prosperity to Americans across this country.

Carly Fiorina is the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard.

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