Rick Perry Is Running for President. Read These 8 Stories About Him Now.

Can the embattled former governor put his gaffe-riddled 2012 bid behind him and win the nomination?

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/5047775028/in/photolist-8G4aDW-an7mV2-6voQ7g-ox82bi-pn35mK-b18ShM-aMtecT-9qLejf-ez2gio-9jZdPE-6xC126-8Qi1rK-p4rbqB-b7Zdjx-btAfzh-aSSy6V-ce1zFY-bpCdYg-aRqpmD-q8eEc8-ppGRvp-8Qi3ve-a4agHd-beo68Z-benHex-8Qm7kA-8N3kSq-aiyHBV-cCkW7m-ax9xe1-njNJR5-cPig4S-68z5Qb-acXPcd-aoagJH-7XoM7t-dn2pz8-8Qi2YV-aRpEeP-aSYr7e-i3yjLF-akimcs-8Qi2kD-bZaBrh-pmNtPL-ehsYcs-cPErqY-q2LvvN-aprWTJ-8Qi28R">Ed Schipul</a>/Flickr

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Oops, he did it again: Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is officially launching his second campaign for president today. He’s expected to announce his bid flanked by combat veterans in the Dallas suburb of Addison. His entry to the race swells the growing GOP field to 10 official candidates.

Perry served for three terms as governor of the Lone Star State before stepping down earlier this year. He last ran for president in 2012, when he briefly was considered the GOP’s strongest conservative alternative to Mitt Romney until a few high-profile gaffes convinced many Republicans he wasn’t up to the job. Perry enters a far more crowded field this cycle, and faces stiff competition from fellow Texan Sen. Ted Cruz, Dr. Ben Carson,  former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum to win over the social conservatives who have supported him in the past.

Perry also carries with him substantial baggage from his 12 years as governor of Texas—most recently, he was indicted by a Texas grand jury on felony abuse of power charges. Check out the best of Mother Jones‘ coverage of Rick Perry:

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate