How many people are in the GOP field now, 90?
Via Politico:
Rick Perry will announce whether he is running for president on June 4, according to a spokesman.
Anita Perry, wife of the former Texas governor, tweeted out an invitation to an event that morning in Dallas hosted by Perry’s political action committee, RickPAC. A spokesman said he will be “announcing his intentions” about 2016 at the event.
“Governor & Mrs. Perry have been discussing the future of our great country and how their family can play a role,” the invitation reads. “Join them in Dallas, TX on June 4th for a special announcement.”
Perry is the Lone Star State’s longest-serving governor in history, having held that position for 14 years before his third term expired this year. He often points to the state’s strong economic record, and that messaging would figure prominently in a future presidential bid.
If he enters the race, he will start under dramatically different circumstances than this time last cycle, when conservatives clamored for the governor to get in the race.
In 2011, Perry was seen as perhaps the most formidable challenger to Mitt Romney because of his popularity among social conservatives and southern Republicans, but he floundered in debates and struggled to get fundraising traction outside of Texas. He finished a disappointing fifth in the Iowa caucuses and angered some establishment Republicans by backing Newt Gingrich over Romney after he withdrew.