MINNEAPOLIS — Conservative Republican Michele Bachmann will officially launch her presidential bid in Iowa Monday, a source close to her campaign said Tuesday.
The U.S. representative from Minnesota, who announced her intention to run at a Republican debate in New Hampshire last week, will hold a kick-off event Monday in Waterloo, Iowa, where she was born, the source told Reuters.
Bachmann, 55, is founder and head of the House Tea Party Caucus. She was one of the first elected officials to court the movement that helped fuel Republican gains in the 2010 midterm elections with calls for spending cuts and reduced government.
The mother of five children, who also fostered 23 other children, Bachmann is a social conservative who strongly opposes abortion and gay marriage.
Bachmann saw a jump in political donations in May, aided in large part by small contributions as she revs up her fundraising machine for the 2012 Republican nomination.
She was hailed for her performance at the first major television debate between the Republican candidates last week, although she has a reputation for gaffes.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney heads the Republican field in the race to deny President Barack Obama a second term. Sarah Palin, the party's vice presidential candidate in 2008 who is often compared to Bachmann, has not yet said whether she will run in 2012.
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