Former U.S. governor officially launches 2024 presidential bid

HOUSTON, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Asa Hutchinson, former governor of the U.S. state of Arkansas, officially launched his bid on Wednesday for the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nomination.

"Today, I am announcing that I am a candidate for president of the United States," Hutchinson told supporters in Bentonville, Arkansas, his birthplace, one day after President Joe Biden announced he's running for a second term.

Hutchinson, 72, also a former congressman, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and border security official, is the fifth Republican joining the field of Republican presidential hopefuls, which is expected to grow as campaign season revs up.

"From Congress to the DEA to Homeland Security, I have served our country in times of crisis. As governor of Arkansas, we cut taxes and created record surpluses. We increased pay for teachers. We reduced regulations; recruited industry, and the private sector grew by over 100,000 jobs. My mettle has been tested," he said.

Hutchinson said he knows how to balance a budget and doesn't want an "unending" war in Ukraine, emphasizing that the United States must secure its southern border and put Social Security and Medicare on a more sustainable path.

In his remarks, Hutchinson didn't mention former President Donald Trump, who was the first Republican candidate to formally announce a 2024 presidential run. However, in an interview with CBS News over the weekend, Hutchinson argued that Republicans' "best opportunity is to have a new face."

Other Republicans who have formally joined the race for the party's presidential nomination include Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina and former ambassador to the United Nations, Vivek Ramaswamy, a former biotech executive, and Larry Elder, a conservative talk radio host and a gubernatorial candidate during California's 2021 recall effort.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is widely considered the top rival to Trump in the Republican field, but he hasn't formally announced a presidential campaign so far.