Former HP CEO Fiorina prepares to launch Senate bid

Network World - Former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Carly Fiorina may be launching a run for the U.S. Senate.

Fiorina, a Republican, “filed for a tax identification number Tuesday and registered a campaign committee named ‘Carly for California,’” allowing her to raise money for a 2010 Senate run, according to the Associated Press. Fiorina would be attempting to win the seat of U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from California who became senator in 1992.

"The people of California have serious concerns about job creation, economic growth and the role of government in solving problems that touch each of our lives," Fiorina said in a statement.

Fiorina stopped short of formally announcing a Senate bid but said she had been “encouraged to run by ‘people across the political spectrum’ and will begin meeting with policy advisers and financial donors,” according to the AP.

Fiorina, 54, was the president and CEO of HP from 1999 to 2005 and chairman of the board for most of that time. Prior to that, she had spent nearly two decades at AT&T and Lucent Technologies. She was fired by HP in February 2005, after disagreements over company strategy. Even before joining HP, Fiorina had been named the “most powerful woman in American business” by Fortune Magazine.

Since leaving HP, Fiorina has written an autobiography; provided commentary for Fox Business Network; and served on the MIT board of trustees, the World Economic Forum’s Foundation Board, and the boards of companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. She was also on Cisco Systems Inc.’s board of directors between 2001 and 2003.

During the last presidential election, she served as an economic adviser to nominee John McCain.

Fiorina, a former resident of New Jersey and Maryland, has an “erratic voting record,” a fact critics might seize upon during an election, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

“Officials in Morris County, N.J., said records show she registered to vote there in 1997 but did not vote in a single election and was dropped from the voter rolls in 2005 as inactive,” the paper reported. Fiorina has also skipped most elections since moving to California in 2000, the report states.

In Maryland, where she lived before New Jersey, the registrar’s office found no listing of Fiorina’s voter registration, the paper also reported. Fiorina’s spokeswoman claimed the voting records were inaccurate.