Ted Cruz to Announce Presidential Bid on Monday

NBC News.com

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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will announce his presidential bid on Monday during an address at Liberty University in Virginia, NBC News confirms.

Cruz, a conservative Republican famed for his staunch opposition to the president's signature health care law and his executive actions on immigration, will become the first GOP hopeful to formally announce a White House run.

A person with knowledge of the announcement tells NBC that the senator will announce the bid during a convocation ceremony at Liberty, a Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia.

A favorite of Tea Party activists, Cruz is known for his filibuster-like speech to protest the Affordable Care Act as a government shutdown loomed in 2013.

First elected to the Senate in 2012, Cruz previously served as the the solicitor general of Texas.

In a March NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll, 40 percent of GOP primary voters said they could see themselves supporting Cruz for president, while 38 percent said they could not see themselves backing him.

The news of Cruz's run was first reported by the Houston Chronicle late Saturday night.