New Competetor for Obama

Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman will announce his bid for the White House next Tuesday, bringing a moderate Republican and expert on America's fastest growing competitor into the race to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012."I intend to announce that I will be a candidate for the presidency a week from today," Huntsman, former US ambassador to China, said at an event.

The formal announcement of his candidacy will be made on June 21 near the Statue of Liberty, a source close to Huntsman said. Huntsman, 51, is one of the few Republican hopefuls who worries Obama's re-election team, though his name recognition across the country is low.

Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, he upset the White House in April by quitting his job as ambassador in Beijing to return to the United States and plan his election campaign.If he picks up traction in the polls, Huntsman could be a rival to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for the role of the moderate Republican candidate.

Huntsman left his governorship in August 2009 with sky-high approval ratings and a reputation for fiscal conservatism, but his more moderate views on social issues could make his path to winning the Republican nomination difficult.Familiarity with voters is also a problem.

A recent look by the University of New Hampshire's survey center showed Huntsman favored by only 1 percent of voters in the state, which has an early February primary that can help a candidate build momentum.Seventy-one percent of those polled had never heard of him despite Huntsman campaigning there.

Governor of Utah Jon Huntsman on Republican poll field

* Huntsman, 51, was U.S. Ambassador to China and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. He was ambassador to Singapore in the early 1990s when his appointment at age 32 made him the youngest head of a U.S. diplomatic mission in a century.

* Considered a moderate Republican, Huntsman was twice elected governor of Utah. He was first elected in 2005 and resigned during his second term to return to diplomatic service. While he was the state chief executive, Utah was named by the Pew Center as the Best Managed State in America. Huntsman backed John McCain in the 2008 presidential election, rather than Mitt Romney, a fellow Mormon.

* Huntsman dropped out of high school to play keyboard in a rock band. He has an adopted Chinese daughter and learned to speak Chinese while on a Mormon mission to Taiwan during his college years. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

* He is the eldest of nine children of Jon Huntsman Sr., a billionaire industrialist and founder of Huntsman Corp, a chemical company. Huntsman Sr. was a special assistant to former President Richard Nixon.

* Huntsman Jr. worked in the Reagan administration as a White House aide. He was a deputy U.S. Trade Representative in the George W. Bush administration. A U.S. Trade Ambassador, Huntsman negotiated agreements for the United States with China, Taiwan, Singapore, South Africa and other Asian and African nations.