WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former US Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a staunch conservative whose 2012 White House bid fell short, will announce on Wednesday his plan to make another run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, according to ABC News.
Santorum, a senator from 1995 to 2007, will make the announcement later on Wednesday at an event near his childhood home in Cabot, Pennsylvania, ABC News reported. The network said it has a planned interview with the candidate.
A representative for Santorum could not be reached immediately to comment on the report.
In the 2012 Republican nomination race, Santorum finished behind eventual nominee Mitt Romney. He had strong support from voters who were drawn to his unwavering social and religious conservatism and wary of the more business-oriented Romney.
Santorum won Iowa's kickoff contest and a string of later primaries in 2012, outlasting other White House hopefuls before falling to Romney in the Republican nominating race.
His support has languished in the low single digits in most polls ahead of the 2016 race and he faces a stronger and potentially larger field of Republican hopefuls this time around, including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and U.S. senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
