Texas Governor Rick Perry, the nation’s longest-serving governor, is expected announce his bid for the presidency in South Carolina on Saturday (August 13). The outspoken advocate of states’ rights and conservative positions could have an outsized impact on the race among Republicans to challenge President Obama next year.
“The Texas governor with fancy boots and a swagger to match has caught the imagination of many Republicans dissatisfied with the longer-standing field of hopefuls, particularly in a year they see as a rare opportunity to take on an incumbent president with voters worried over their jobs, their investments and the country’s economic future,” writes the Houston Chronicle.
Perry likely will take credit for Texas’ relatively healthy economic situation during his tenure. In recent years, he has relished opportunities to tout the companies that have relocated to Texas from other states, particularly California. On Thursday, in fact, Perry even took a playful jab at Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican. “Just got off the phone with your governor who’s angry because Texas stole some jobs from Florida,” Perry told a reporter from the St. Petersburg Times.
Perry also supported in-state tuition for illegal immigrants and argued for the mandatory vaccination of girls for HPV, which angered some conservatives. HPV can be transmitted by sexual contact and can cause cancer.
