Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner has confirmed to the AP that the Texas Governor will announce his intentions to run for President Saturday during a speech to the RedState gathering in South Carolina.
Stories started surfacing earlier this week saying that Perry, the longest serving chief executive in Texas history, would use the conservative gathering to remove all speculation about a run for the White House. Sources revealed to Townhall yesterday that the Governor’s children, Griffin and Sydney, have been told to clear their schedules starting Friday so they could be “with their father at this special time.”
When reached for comment this morning on if the decision had been indeed final, a senior advisor to the Governor said nothing was factual about what was to be reported this morning breaking the story.
Friends of the Governor who have previously raised money for gubernatorial campaigns have been soliciting pledges for a Presidential run for weeks, but “haven’t picked up the checks yet.” They are being asked to commit to raising a minimum of $100,000 through their own personal network.
Federal law requires that a candidate to file paperwork for a presidential exploratory committee if a candidate, or anyone working on that candidate’s behalf, as soon as they raise $5000. Friends of the Governor are said to be in Washington D.C. ready to file the paperwork necessary for the exploratory committee.
With the confirmation that Perry will indeed be a candidate, speculation is that a formal announcement is in the works during Labor Day weekend in either Austin or on the Texas A&M campus.
Perry for months had been saying running for President wasn’t on his “radar screen,” but apparently that changed at the urging of his wife Anita. The Governor has been holding meetings with potential donors and policy experts leading up to his decision.