Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at the EMILY's List 30th Anniversary Gala at Hilton Washington Hotel on March 3, 2015, in Washington, D.C. (credit: Leah Puttkammer/FilmMagic)FILE -- Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at the EMILY's List 30th Anniversary Gala at Hilton Washington Hotel on March 3, 2015, in Washington, D.C. (credit: Leah Puttkammer/FilmMagic)
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – Hillary Clinton is planning to announce her run for president on Sunday, CBS News reported.
Clinton will first announce her campaign for the Democratic nomination with an online video posted on social media.
It will be Clinton’s second presidential bid. She enters the race in a strong position to succeed her one-time rival, President Barack Obama.
Clinton appears unlikely to face a stiff primary opponent, though a handful of lower-profile Democrats have said they are considering their own campaigns.
If elected, the former first lady would be the nation’s first female president.
People familiar with Clinton’s plans spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them publicly.
She could be running that campaign from a building in Brooklyn.
Presidential candidates must make their intentions known within 15 days after engaging in campaign activities– like signing a lease, CBS2’s Andrea Grymes reported.
The Associated Press reported earlier this month Clinton’s campaign for president will initially focus on intimate events, rather than soaring speeches to big rallies. That’s according to two people close to the Clinton organization. They say her team is looking to put her in direct contact with voters in states with early primaries and caucuses.
On the Republican side, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul have both officially launched presidential campaigns. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is expected to announce on Monday, Grymes reported.
Clinton would be the first to officially announce a run on the Democratic side and she may have some competition for the party’s nomination. Former Independent Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chaffee says he has launched a presidential exploratory committee as a democrat.
Quinnipiac University political science professor Khalilah Brown-Dean says the Clinton name carries considerable weight– a plus in polling and fundraising. But as for Clinton the candidate, Brown-Dean said some issues will not go away.
“Concerns about Benghazi or recent concerns about emails and whether things were being transparent enough,” she told WCBS 880’s Paul Murnane.
However, Congresswoman Caroline Maloney said that’s in the past.
“We’re going forward and all of those issues were addressed and addressed appropriately,” she said.
Malone has been leading “Ready for Hillary” rallies, with the last one set for Saturday in Lower Manhattan.
Waiting to get her car from the garage under 1 Pierrepont Plaza, one woman told 1010 WINS’ Al Jones it’s exciting to possibly share a space with Clinton’s campaign headquarters.
“It will be exciting, we want to see it, this is a big city, we want to see all that here,” she said.
“If she comes, I’m going to make her a sandwich and she’s not going to forget it. Egg sandwich and large coffee, whatever she likes. On the house, no charge,” one man who owns a local coffee cart said.
