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| Huckabee to depart Fox News to consider 2016 presidential run | Huckabee to depart Fox News to consider 2016 presidential run |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Mike Huckabee is leaving Fox News to decide whether he wants to run for president. | Mike Huckabee is leaving Fox News to decide whether he wants to run for president. |
| In a statement released on his Web site Saturday night, the Republican former governor of Arkansas said that Saturday's episode of "Huckabee" will be the last. | |
| "There has been a great deal of speculation as to whether I would run for President. If I were willing to absolutely rule that out, I could keep doing this show. But I can't make such a declaration. I won't make a decision about running until late in the spring of 2015," Huckabee wrote. | "There has been a great deal of speculation as to whether I would run for President. If I were willing to absolutely rule that out, I could keep doing this show. But I can't make such a declaration. I won't make a decision about running until late in the spring of 2015," Huckabee wrote. |
| He said the swirling speculation as to whether he will run or not is not fair to Fox. | He said the swirling speculation as to whether he will run or not is not fair to Fox. |
| "As much as I have loved doing the show, I cannot bring myself to rule out another Presidential run. So as we say in television, stay tuned!" he wrote. | |
| (Past coverage: Mike Huckabee rebuilds political team with eye on another presidential run) | |
| Huckabee has hosted the show for more than six years. Ending his show is essentially a requirement for laying the groundwork for a presidential run. As a policy Fox ends relationships with politicians who form exploratory committees or seriously intend to run for office. | |
| "I have to be very careful about this," Huckabee told The Post in November. | |
| The network said it has "amicably parted ways" with Huckabee. It was "in the best of both of their interests," a network spokeswoman said. | |
| Huckabee’s decision instantly shakes up the emerging race for the Republican presidential nomination. Particularly in the Iowa, where Huckabee surged from the bottom of the polls in 2008 to win the presidential caucuses, his move will have consequences for other conservative contenders as they plot their own possible paths. | |
| Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Gov. Rick Perry (R-Tex.) have been courting Iowa’s evangelical voters for months, believing the support of that bloc is up for grabs. Huckabee’s entry would make the battle for those conservative votes a messy and crowded contest, with the Arkansan bringing a deep base of support from his 2008 campaign with him. | |
| Huckabee’s decision comes after months of private discussions with his family, his advisers, and his top donors about his political future and whether he should leave the Fox program, which has provided him with a hefty salary and enabled him to purchase a beachfront estate in Florida. | |
| Huckabee’s political circle from his 2008 campaign largely remains intact, with Chip Saltsman, the longtime political strategist who had managed his 2008 campaign, on board, along with Bob Wickers, another confidant. Alice Stewart, a veteran of Huckabee’s 2008 campaign, has been handling communications. Sarah Huckabee, the former governor’s daughter, is also advising him. Chad Gallagher, a trusted aide, is currently managing Huck PAC, a political-action committee. | |
| A Huckabee aide Saturday insisted that Huckabee would not form a presidential exploratory committee before April. Instead, the aide said, Huckabee will work with his non-profit group and his PAC on various projects. He will only formally create a new political entity if he decides to launch a campaign. | |
| An early test for Huckabee’s 2016 ambitions will begin later this month when he goes on a national tour to tout his new book, “God, Guns, and Grits,” a 272-page manifesto on politics and culture. A Huckabee aide said his promotional road trip will coincide with meetings and planning for his possible presidential campaign, and give Huckabee an opportunity to brush up on his retail political skills. | |
| Huckabee will have competition on the bookstore shelves. Rivals Cruz, Paul, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) all have their own books in the works. Maryland neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a tea-party favorite, has a book offering life lessons for teenagers scheduled to be released in February. | |
| Huckabee’s team has been scouting office locations in Little Rock, Ark., since November, and an aide said Saturday that the campaign, if made official, would be based there. But they said no final decisions on a location for a headquarters have been made. | |
| Huckabee’s shift from semi- retirement to being on the cusp of another presidential run began in July 2013, based on interviews with his allies in November and on Saturday. As Huckabee sat on the beach one day with his family, he was joined Saltsman. | |
| Saltsman asked Huckabee whether he was interested in running again. Huckabee shrugged and said he was not sure. Saltsman replied that if he had any inclination to do it, he needed to start mapping out a run as soon as possible in order to keep up with his potential rivals. Saltsman’s parting message: Call me when you’re ready. A couple days later, Huckabee rang Saltsman and said, “Let’s go.” | |
| Huckabee called his show "the ride of a lifetime" and said he has never had so much fun. | |
| "I also realize that God hasn't put me on earth just to have a good time or to make a good living, but rather has put me on earth to try to make a good life," he wrote. | |
| On its last episode the former governor discussed his frustration with President Obama, his decision-making while the chief executive of Arkansas and his belief that that there isn't much governing coming out of Washington. | |
| Huckabee said he hopes to see a return of "the fine art of governing" in 2015. | |
| "And if we don't, I'll say what parents often say to their kids, 'don't make me come up there,'" he said. | |
| Tom Hamburger contributed to this story. |