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Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announces run for presidency (w/video)

 
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has about 1 percent support, according to surveys.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has about 1 percent support, according to surveys.
Published June 25, 2015

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Wednesday that he will seek the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, joining a crowded field as a long-shot candidate with dismal polling numbers not only among his fellow candidates but with his constituents at home.

Jindal, a two-term governor, highlighted his tenure in office, during which he downsized state government and fought for tax cuts, actions that are widely popular among the GOP base.

"We did what they said could not be done. We shrank government. … The big-government crowd fought us every step of the way," Jindal said, noting he had cut the number of state government workers by 34 percent and limited "bureaucrats."

Jindal said there were "a lot of great talkers running for president," but that none of them could talk about limiting government the way he had in Louisiana.

"We've had enough talkers. It's time for a doer," Jindal said in a speech outside New Orleans. "I'm not running for president to be somebody; I'm running for president to do something."

Several national surveys of the 2016 field, which includes more than a dozen candidates, show him with about 1 percent support.

In Louisiana, Jindal's approval ratings this spring hovered near 30 percent, stemming largely from the way he has handled the state's recent $1.6 billion budget shortfall.