Carly Fiorina, former chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, is expected to announce her candidacy for president next month. File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is set to launch her campaign for the 2016 presidential election as a Republican candidate.

She will announce her candidacy online May 4 before holding a conference call with the national media, according to The Wall Street Journal. Fiorina joins Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida in a quest for the GOP nomination.


Fiorina stepped down as chairman and chief executive of Hewlett-Packard suddenly in 2005. The company said Fiorina stepped down over strategic disagreements.

She was the GOP U.S. Senate nominee in California in 2010, defeated by incumbent Democrat Sen. Barbara Boxer by about 10 percentage points.

Fiorina may be the only female Republican presidential candidate. She has stated that nominating a woman as the GOP nominee would undercut the historic significance of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Sarah Isgur Flores, Fiorina 's spokeswoman, did not confirm the report.

I am not confirming the WSJ story from earlier today. We have no announcement to make. — Sarah Isgur Flores (@whignewtons) April 22, 2015

Neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a Tea Party favorite, is also set to announce his candidacy for president on May 4.