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Being Texan Doesnt Mean You Support Perry for President - NYTimes.com

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November 3, 2011

Being Texan Doesnt Mean You Support Perry for President

By EMILY RAMSHAW and ELIZABETH TITUS

Texans have elected Rick Perry governor three times with almost 55 percent of the vote in 2010 but that does not mean Texas Republican establishment is falling in line to help elect him president. Some prominent Texas business executives, Republican members of the states Congressional delegation and even university regents whom Mr. Perry appointed have lent their money if not their endorsements to other Republican contenders, most notably former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and the former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. It is a risky endeavor. Whether Mr. Perry makes it to the White House or comes back to the governors office, he will wield legislative power, political influence and a veto pen. Its a risk you run when you work against somebody, said Bill Miller, an Austin-based lobbyist and political consultant, who said some high-dollar donors to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchisons failed 2010 run for Texas governor were still writing big checks to Mr. Perry to apologize. If you guess wrong, theres always a price. Among the prominent Texans who have formally endorsed Mr. Gingrich are Representatives Michael Burgess of Lewisville and Joe Barton of Arlington, both Republicans. Louie Gohmert, a Republican congressman from Tyler, has not endorsed a candidate but has contributed to Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and as o the end of September had not reported any contributions to Mr. Perry. Mr. Romneys endorsements include those of Representative Lamar Smith, Republican of San Antonio; former Chief Justice Tom Phillips of the Texas Supreme Court; and Scott Caven, a former University of Texas System regent who once served as Mr. Perrys finance chairman and has contributed more than $18,000 to his re-election bids for governor in the last decade.

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Being Texan Doesnt Mean You Support Perry for President - NYTimes.com

Mr. Smith declined to speak with The Texas Tribune, but he said in a statement that he had committed to Mr. Romney three months before Mr. Perry announced his candidacy. In the current election cycle, Mr. Romney has received campaign contributions in Texas from John Barnhill and Janiece Longoria, former University of Texas System regents; Bob Perry, a billionaire home builder; Larry Kellner, the former Continental Airlines chief executive; and Mayor Mike Rawlings of Dallas, none of whom reported contributions to Mr. Perry in the first 48 days of his presidential campaign. Mr. Kellner, who has contributed $25,000 to Mr. Perry in past elections, said in an e-mail that Mr. Romney is the right leader for the country in these challenging economic times. Mr. Rawlings said through a spokeswoman that his contribution should not be seen as an endorsement of Mr. Romney and that he made it at the request of his business partner, who is Mr. Romneys co-chairman for finance in Texas. A spokesman for Bob Perry (no relation to Rick Perry) who has given Mr. Perrys campaigns for governor more than $2.5 million over the last decade did not respond to questions about whether he endorses Mr. Romney. Meanwhile, the Dallas real estate magnate Harlan Crow has helped finance the presidential bid of former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah, despite having given more than $142,000 to Mr. Perrys past bids for governor. John Mackey, the chief executive of Whole Foods, based in Austin, has contributed to the long-shot campaign of former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, a libertarian. In separate interviews, Dr. Burgess and Mr. Barton, both of whom say they had decided to endorse Mr. Gingrich before Mr. Perry entered the race, said they did not believe that Mr. Perry was the best-qualified Republican candidate. Mr. Barton said the governor assured him last spring that he had no interest in running for president. He said Mr. Perry is not quite as well prepared to step into the No. 1 office right off the bat as Mr. Gingrich, but that he thinks Mr. Perry could get there quickly. Dr. Burgess, who acknowledged he got on the other side of Mr. Perry last year by endorsing Ms. Hutchison for governor, said he had personally asked Mr. Gingrich to run in late 2009. Dr. Burgess said he patched up a lot of the hurt feelings with Mr. Perry last spring. But the governor did not convey to members of the Texas delegation that he was thinking about

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Being Texan Doesnt Mean You Support Perry for President - NYTimes.com

doing this, Dr. Burgess said. Rick never came up here and said, Ive got to have you guys. Mr. Miller, the political consultant, said support for Mr. Perrys bid in Texas, while widespread, had a far different feel from George W. Bushs first presidential race. To campaign for Mr. Bush, then the Texas governor, state lawmakers and Austin lobbyists routinely traveled to primary states at their own expense, he said some of them Democrats. Everyone was saying: Have you been to Michigan? To New Hampshire? There was a cool factor, Mr. Miller said. But the risks of opposing the sitting governor were great then too. When Representative Garnet Coleman, Democrat of Houston, campaigned against Mr. Bush in his first presidential bid, it was unusual; Mr. Coleman and Mr. Bush were friends, and some of Mr. Colemans fellow Democrats were on the trail supporting Mr. Bush. Mr. Coleman was bullied. Lawmakers warned him he was endangering a good political career. They told him he had a target on his back. He worried that his bills would be vetoed, but he was not deterred. I thought it was better that we keep him here than send him to the White House, where he could do more harm, he said.
eramshaw@texastribune.org etitus@texastribune.org

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