--- title: 5 Things You Need To Know About Ben Carson description: Ben Carson came in second in a CNN/ORC International poll on who GOP voters will support for president. Here's what you need to know. canonical: https://time.com/3613588/ben-carson-president-election/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-02T15:54:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:31.916Z article:section: Politics og:title: 5 Things You Need To Know About Ben Carson og:description: Ben Carson came in second in a CNN/ORC International poll on who GOP voters will support for president. Here's what you need to know. og:url: https://time.com/3613588/ben-carson-president-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd885804eecff1ec4/69876bd30b72e362f36dc41b/459171652.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Ben Carson at the 2014 Wounded Warrior Project Benefit on November 17, 2014 in New York City. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Things You Need To Know About Ben Carson twitter:description: Ben Carson came in second in a CNN/ORC International poll on who GOP voters will support for president. Here's what you need to know. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd885804eecff1ec4/69876bd30b72e362f36dc41b/459171652.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Things You Need To Know About Ben Carson > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 2, 2014 3:54 PM UTC  Ben Carson at the 2014 Wounded Warrior Project Benefit on November 17, 2014 in New York City. Ben Carson at the 2014 Wounded Warrior Project Benefit on November 17, 2014 in New York City. Brent N. Clarke—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 2, 2014 3:54 PM UTC Ben Carson came in second behind Mitt Romney in a new [CNN/ORC International poll](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/cnnorcpoll12022014.pdf) surveying GOP voters on which candidate they would be most likely to support for president. (And Romney [isn’t even running](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/05/romney-on-2016-the-answer-is-no/).) Since Carson, who has had millions of dollars [raised on his behalf](http://time.com/68078/ben-carson-for-president-draft/), beat out big names such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, here are five things you should know about the dark horse presidential candidate. 1\. _He’s a pediatric neurosurgeon_. He’s credited with being the first doctor to successfully separate conjoined twins joined at the head. 2\. _There was a movie made about his life._ It’s called “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story,” and Carson was played by actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. 3\. _He’s a devout Christian._ He gave the keynote speech at at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2013, and he has said that he [“\[feels\] fingers”](http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2014/11/20/video-exclusive-ben-carson-feeling-fingers-from-god-to-run.aspx) from God to run for President. 4\. _He was raised by a single mother._ She was illiterate, but she made her children write essays and read them to her as part of their studies. 5\. _Until recently, he was registered as an independent_. 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