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Perry Will Make Clear He's Running for President

Governor Rick Perry gives a short final speech at The Response at Reliant Stadium on August 6, 2011.
Photo by Bob Daemmrich/The Texas Tribune
Governor Rick Perry gives a short final speech at The Response at Reliant Stadium on August 6, 2011.

Gov. Rick Perry will make it clear he's jumping into the 2012 presidential race during an appearance this weekend in South Carolina, Republican sources said Monday.

Politico first reported the story, saying Perry will make his intentions clear during a speech to the RedState convention on Saturday in Charleston. Perry is scheduled to speak in the early afternoon.

Perry's South Carolina appearance coincides with another major development in the presidential race — the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa — on the same day. Perry's name won't appear on the ballot in that non-binding contest but by revealing that he is running for president, Perry will become a major focus of the news media on Saturday.

One source who spoke to the Tribune said the Perry will "remove any doubt" that he was running. It's unclear whether Perry will actually have a federal fundraising committee in place by the time he speaks to theRedState conference.

Perry spokesman Mark Miner issued a statement that neither confirmed nor denied the pending declaration from the long-serving Texas governor.

'The Governor is not a candidate for Office at this time. With President Obama’s dismal economic record, and Texas’ success in creating jobs and balancing our budget, Governor Perry continues to consider a potential run for The White House," Miner said.  "Stay tuned."

According to CNN, Perry is planning to fly to New Hampshire, site of the nation's first presidential primary and the home of his political consultant Dave Carney, a few hours after speaking in South Carolina.

Jay Root is a native of Liberty. He never knew any reporters growing up, and he has never taken a journalism class in his life. But somehow he got hooked on the news business. It all started when he walked into the offices of The Daily Texan, his college newspaper, during his last year at the University of Texas in 1987. He couldn't the resist the draw: it was the the biggest collection of misfits ever assembled. After graduating, he took a job at a Houston chemical company and realized it wasn't for him. Soon he was applying for an unpaid internship at the Houston Post in 1990, and it turned into a full-time job that same year. He has been a reporter ever since. He has covered natural disasters, live music and Texas politics — not necessarily in that order. He was Austin bureau chief of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for a dozen years, most of them good. He also covered politics and the Legislature for The Associated Press before joining the staff of the Tribune.