Ben Carson to make announcement in Detroit next month

WASHINGTON – Dr. Ben Carson, a renowned neurosurgeon who grew up in poverty in Detroit and a possible candidate for president in 2016, will return to the city early next month to make an announcement, his campaign office confirmed today.

While the topic of the announcement was not revealed, it is likely linked to Carson's intentions regarding the Republican presidential nomination. Carson, 63, was the first high-profile Republican to formally enter the presidential process when he formed an exploratory committee in early March.

Carson will make his announcement at Detroit's Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts on May 4, his campaign told the Free Press this morning.

Carson, who has been on the road in New Hampshire and elsewhere speaking to groups and raising money, indicated on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV last week that his decision would be based in part on the financial support available and that it was "looking quite positive."

Carson is a political newcomer having never run for office, but he has been a favorite in conservative circles since criticizing the Democratic health care reform law at the 2013 National Prayer breakfast with President Barack Obama sitting a few feet away.

Raised by a single mother in Detroit, Carson, who is African American, has said he struggled with "bad grades and a horrible temper" before turning his life around with the help of his mother. He graduated with honors from Southwestern High School, attended Yale University and then medical school at the University of Michigan.

Carson went on to direct pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, leading a career that included the first successful separation of conjoined twins attached at the back of the head in 1987. In 2001, he was named by TIME Magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists. He has also been awarded the NAACP's Spingarn Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Carson, who has retired as a surgeon in 2013, now lives in Florida.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the weekend announced that she would run for the Democratic nomination to succeed Obama. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida, have also announced they are running for the Republican nomination, with several others — notably former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker — also considering a run.

Coincidentally, Carson's announcement in Detroit is set for the same day Walker is speaking to the Oakland County Republican's Lincoln Day Dinner in Novi.

Contact Todd Spangler at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @tsspangler.