Texas Gov. Rick Perry may be out of this year's presidential race, but that doesn't mean he won't run again.
After speaking at a Plano Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Texas, Perry told the Dallas-Fort Worth CBS affiliate that he would give a possible 2016 presidential run "a good examination."
“2016 is way down the road, but I’ll assure you one thing: If I decide to run for the presidency in 2016, I’ll be way in before the summer of 2016 -- 2015, even,” Perry said. Perry waited until August of last year to announce his candidacy, a comparatively late entrance.
He also confirmed rumors that he's contemplating running for another term as governor, saying he'd give the option "the appropriate consideration."
“My instincts are very positive towards it right now, but we’ll wait until after the legislative session to make that announcement," he said. That means Texans will have to wait until late May to see if Perry, the state's longest-serving governor, will choose to run again.
Perry's ill-fated run for GOP presidential nominee ended in January, after a series of campaign-trail gaffes irreparably undermined his standing in the polls and he came in fifth in the first two contests of the primary season. He said on Wednesday that it wasn't his gaffes that got him, but rather his stance on the Texas law that provided in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants. Perry said at an early debate, to opponents of that law, that "I don't think you have a heart."
“I apologized for that, but I think the damage was done," he said on Wednesday, admitting that he should have focused on the economic rather than the moral impact of the law.
Get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox. Sign up for National Journal's morning alert, Wake-Up Call, and afternoon newsletter, The Edge. Subscribe here.
Leave A Comment