Fiorina picks up first lawmaker endorsement

by Jesse Byrnes - 09/21/15 4:14 PM ET

Businesswoman Carly Fiorina has received her first endorsement from a member of Congress for her campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

{mosads}Kansas Rep. Lynn Jenkins, a top House Republican, announced Sunday she is supporting the former chief executive’s White House bid and is serving as her co-chair in the state.

Jenkins, a certified public accountant, pointed to Fiorina’s business experience in her statement of support that was released to The Topeka Capital-Journal.

“As a CPA who practiced public accounting for nearly 20 years before coming to Congress, I recognize when a system is as badly broken as Washington is, it is best to look to the outside for a new direction,” Jenkins said in her statement.

“Carly Fiorina is exactly the strong, steady, no nonsense businesswoman that our nation so desperately needs,” Jenkins added of the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, saying that a secretary who would eventually run for president “is proof the American dream still exists.”

Fiorina has received several endorsements from state legislators, the Capital-Journal noted, but she has so far lacked the backing of national political figures, specifically lawmakers.

The endorsement from Jenkins, vice chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, comes on the heels of Fiorina’s lauded performance in the second GOP debate last week.

Fiorina vaulted to second in a national post-debate CNN poll released Sunday, behind only businessman Donald Trump, who has been at the top of polls for the past couple months.

The businessman has received zero congressional endorsements, while rivals former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul are leading with endorsements from 23 and 10 members of Congress, respectively, according to The New York Times.

Tags Carly Fiorina