Republican Mike Huckabee announced a run for his party's 2016 presidential nomination on Tuesday with a fiery, populist speech aimed at energizing support from the Christian right and blue-collar Americans struggling to make ends meet.

The 59-year-old former Arkansas governor and former host of a popular Fox News television show is a long shot in the widening race to represent the Republican Party in the November 2016 election. Huckabee is the sixth Republican to make a formal bid.

The former Southern Baptist pastor rode support from social conservatives opposing abortion rights and gay marriage to an early surprise victory in the 2008 White House race. Huckabee will again face competition for those voters.