Confirming WMUR’s exclusive report, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz announced on Wednesday afternoon that if he wins the Republican presidential nomination, he will name former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his running mate.

Advertisement Updated WMUR first: Cruz announces intention to name Fiorina as his running mate Former business executive viewed as a potential asset to Cruz’s attempt to wrest nomination from Trump Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Confirming WMUR’s exclusive report, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz announced on Wednesday afternoon that if he wins the Republican presidential nomination, he will name former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his running mate.Click to watch News 9's coverage.Cruz, at an Indiana rally, praised his former presidential rival as “brilliant and capable, and yet she has experienced the hardscrabble world of being a woman professional in a business world that extracts a price.”Cruz called Fiorina “superbly skilled, superbly gifted at helping to unite this party.”He also praised her character in battling breast cancer and dealing with the death of a stepdaughter, while blasting GOP frontrunner Donald Trump as a “bully” for his insulting her appearance early in the campaign.“She has faced challenges a lot worse than someone bellowing and yelling and insulting her face,” Cruz said to cheers of supporters.He said choosing a running mate is “one of the most solemn choices you make” as a presidential nominee.“This is a choice that you are telling the American people that this is an individual you trust, and ‘You can trust this individual to lead this country, no matter what,’” Cruz said.Fiorina, introduced by Cruz, said, “This is a fight for the soul of our party and the future of our nation.”“I’ve had tough fights all my life,” she said. “Tough fights don’t worry me a bit.”“This is a fight worth having. This is a fight worth winning,” she said.Fiorina called Trump and Hillary Clinton “two sides of the same coin.”Clinton, she said, is an insider, and “Donald Trump has made his billions buying people like Hillary Clinton. They are not going to challenge the system. They are the system.”Earlier on Wednesday, sources confirmed to WMUR political director Josh McElveen and political reporter John DiStaso that Fiorina, who has been a supporter of Cruz for several weeks, will be the focus of the announcement that Cruz intends to make in Indiana Wednesday afternoon.Fiorina dropped out of the presidential race after finishing seventh in the New Hampshire presidential primary on Feb. 9.The former Hewlett-Packard CEO endorsed Cruz a month later, calling him a “leader and a reformer” who is “willing to take on the status quo in Washington.” She has since appeared often as a surrogate for Cruz.Cruz’s campaign is on the ropes after suffering defeats in five eastern states on Tuesday. He is looking to Indiana’s May 3 primary to salvage his campaign as frontrunner Donald Trump nears the 1,237 delegate threshold needed to secure the GOP presidential nomination.Should Cruz survive Indiana, California’s primary is key on June 7. Fiorina is viewed as a potential asset to Cruz in California, where she won a U.S. Senate primary in 2010 before losing to Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in the general election.Republicans also view Fiorina as someone with conservative credibility and a strong business record. She is also marketable by Cruz as an asset in a general election bid against Democrat Clinton. Fiorina was perhaps the most effective critic of Clinton during primary campaign in New Hampshire.12967056