Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) will meet with religious activists from Iowa and South Carolina—key states for any 2016 presidential bid—this week, according to reports.
Huckabee ran in 2008 backed by the religious right, ultimately losing out to Arizona’s Sen. John McCain. Now, pastors are reportedly pressing Huckabee to give it another shot. In October, Huckabee said it was “fair to say” that he’s thinking about running for president again.
Evangelical activist David Lane has organized an event for pastors through his group, the Arkansas Renewal Project, where Huckabee will speak and begin making the rounds with ministers in key states for a Huckabee bid.
Lane told the Examiner he hopes the religious right will pick a candidate early, so they can be better represented in the presidential season.
“We’re going to get out early. We’re going to try to eliminate the stuff that they [GOP leaders] do to us every four years, which is picking somebody who has no chance of being viable and they kill us off and we have the McCains and Romneys left,” he said.
“We’re going to be serious this time, maybe.”
Jane Timm