Pro-Perry Group Raises $400,000 in Three Weeks

An outside group urging Texas Gov. Rick Perry to jump into the Republican presidential primary has raised $400,000 in three weeks, emboldening organizers to ramp up fundraising and represent him in next month's Iowa straw poll -- even if he is still on the fence.

Bob Schuman, a senior strategist for Americans for Rick Perry, said Thursday that the group is expanding its fundraising operation outside of Texas to include Miami, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. The group can accept unlimited donations but, under federal law, can’t strategize with Perry himself.