On Monday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz announced in Lynchburg, VA that he would run for president in 2016. He was the first Republican candidate to announce his campaign.

The speech was in Lynchburg, VA at Liberty University, one of the largest Christian universities in the world. With wife and two daughters sitting in the front row, he gave an energetic speech following his announcement. He challenged the audience to “imagine a president that would repeal ObamaCare” and “revitalize the Constitution.” Cruz’s speech was filled with religious and extreme right­wing rhetoric.

He spoke passionately, “What is the promise of America? The idea that…the revolutionary idea that this country was founded upon, which is that our rights don’t come from man. They come from God Almighty.”

Cruz in an alleged favorite among Conservatives and a significant figure in Republican leadership in Congress. Among other things, Democrats already pounced on Cruz’s denial of climate change. They also reminded the nation of his leadership in 2013, when Republicans tried to defund Obama’s Affordable Care Act, and of which Cruz is quite proud.

Cruz has been working to appeal to Republican donors and shut down one of his rivals, Senator Rand Paul. He holds a tight fist on foreign policy issues and national security. Domestically, he has voiced his opposition to marriage equality and abortion.

Previously, Ted Cruz was Texas’ solicitor general. He worked with the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. He was a policy adviser for George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012. As a Cuban American, Cruz was Texas’ first Latino Senator.