Mike Huckabee: Five key things to know about Republican presidential candidate

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has jumped into the 2016 presidential race .

Mr Huckabee made his announcement on Tuesday morning at his hometown of Hempstead Hall in Hope, Arkansas.

When he first ran for president in 2008, he was celebrated among conservative voters as an underdog.

He lost the nomination to Arizona Senator John McCain but his popularity landed him a weekly Fox News show and a syndicated talk radio broadcast. Here are five things to know about the latest hopeful.

1. He’s an avid bass player. Mr Huckabee became a guitarist when he was 11. He apparently owns more than 70 bass guitars. He’s the bassist for the Capitol Offense band, sharing the stage with Ted Nugent, Hank Williams Jr, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson and the Grand Funk Railroad.

2. He won eight states during his 2008 presidential run. In 2008, Mr Huckabee won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia. His eight wins came behind Mitt Romney's 11, and he won more than 20 percent of all votes cast, largely thanks to his populist message to voters. Despite becoming a multi-millionaire, he believes he hasn’t changed.

“Where my strength really came from was blue-collar working class people,” Mr Huckabee told Politico. “They didn’t have money but they had energy. They felt like no one else was there to speak for them or even knew who they were. I think they believed, and I think they still believe, that not only have I come from them – that’s who I am – but that I’ve never lost touch with what it’s like to be out there working harder and getting nowhere.”

3. He’s said that Jesus supported the death penalty while on the cross. In 1997, a caller phoned into Mr Huckabee’s show on the Arkansas Educational Television Network asking how a Christian could support the death penalty. Mr Huckabee replied by saying if Jesus opposed the death penalty, he would have said so on the cross. "If there was ever an occasion for someone to have argued against the death penalty, I think Jesus could have done so on the cross and said, ‘This is an unjust punishment and I deserve clemency’.”

4. He’s successfully lost nearly 100 pounds with good nutrition and exercise. In 2003, Mr Huckabee was diagnosed with weight-related health problems. He turned to healthy nutritional and exercising habits, losing more than 100 pounds. In 2005, he penned a weight loss book titled Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork.

5. And he’s said that Beyoncé is “obnoxious and toxic mental poison”.