Ben Carson officially changes party affiliation to the GOP

(Image credit: Laura Segall/Getty Images)

Ben Carson, the surgeon who confronted President Obama at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast, has been making waves as a conservative spokesman ever since. Fans of the black pediatric neurosurgeon have been calling for him to run for president in 2016, and as the rest of the country took to the voting polls yesterday to change the power in the Senate from Democratic to Republican, Carson officially changed his party affiliation from independent to Republican, prompting speculation that a 2016 White House run might very well be on his agenda.

"It's truly a pragmatic move because I have to run in one party or another," Carson told the Washington Times. "If you run as an independent, you only risk splitting the electorate. I clearly would not be welcome in the Democratic Party, and so that only leaves one party."