page_title: Tim Pawlenty 2012 presidential campaign
section_title: Announcement
hierarchical_section_title: Tim Pawlenty 2012 presidential campaign / Campaign developments / Announcement
caption_attribution_description: Pawlenty campaign kickoff in Des Moines 014
context_page_description: The 2012 presidential campaign of Tim Pawlenty, the 39th Governor of Minnesota began shortly after the 2010 midterm elections. He was seeking the 2012 Republican Party nomination for President of the United States.
  On March 21, 2011 Pawlenty announced on Facebook that he had filed the organization of an exploratory committee with the Federal Elections Commission. He formally declared his candidacy in Iowa on May 23, 2011. The day after finishing third place in the August 13, 2011 Ames Straw Poll, Pawlenty ended his presidential campaign.
context_section_description: On March 21, 2011, Pawlenty announced, via Facebook, that he had formed an exploratory committee in preparation for a potential run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. On April 12, 2011, Pawlenty said clearly on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight that he was "running for president" and not for vice president, adding that a formal announcement would be given in several weeks. On Twitter, his spokesman said CNN took his comments out of context.
  On May 23, 2011, Pawlenty launched his candidacy for president in a speech in Iowa stating: "I'm going to try something a little unusual in politics. I'm just going to tell the truth." A YouTube video appeared a day before. The Wall Street Journal wrote of his candidacy, and the luck he experienced in the GOP's field, that Pawlenty has a "golden chance to become the chief rival to... Mitt Romney".
caption: Pawlenty formally launched his official campaign on May 23 in Iowa
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