Perry says he plans to seek re-election in 2010

AUSTIN (AP) - Republican Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday that he will run for an unprecedented third four-year term as Texas governor in 2010.

Perry said Thursday during a break in a Republican Governors Association forum in Grapevine that he plans to seek office in 2010. His decision was first reported by The Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Asked about other potential gubernatorial candidates, he said: "I don't know about them, but it will be Perry in 2010."

Perry will become the longest-serving governor in Texas history later this year. He took over for George W. Bush after Bush was elected president in 2000 and has won two four-year terms since.

"I think it would be safe to assume that Rick Perry is a candidate for governor in 2010 unless he says otherwise," said Perry spokesman Robert Black.

Another Perry insider agreed.

"This is not surprising, it's been a possibility all along, since he got re-elected," said Republican consultant and former Perry speechwriter Eric Bearse.

Most recently, Perry bested a Democrat and two independent candidates in 2006, garnering 39 percent of the Texas vote in what was a wacky and unpredictable campaign even by Texas standards.

There are no term limits for Texas governors, but governors have historically only run for two terms since terms were set at four years.

Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison also has said she is considering a run for governor in 2010. But she backed away from an aide's statement last month that she was indeed planning a run for the state's top political post.

She considered taking on Perry in 2006, but decided against what would then be a divisive primary battle.

Hutchison said earlier this month that if she runs in 2010, "there's not anyone who could really make a case to me that this would be divisive for the Republican Party in a way that would make me step back."

She said Thursday that it was still "too early to make an announcement about the 2010 race" and questioned the certainty of Perry's comments.

"I think that it's not the time for us to be focusing on 2010," she said. "Maybe he didn't say something definitive ... I'm not saying he was announcing, I doubt that he was, but I do think talk of 2010 is not good in April of 2008."

Black said Perry has not talked to Hutchison about his decision.

"The only people that the governor's going to consult with when he makes a decision like this is Mrs. Perry and God," Black said. "And then he'll let the rest of us know."

Perry's announcement puts to rest speculation that he has been angling for a vice presidential nod, spurred on by his increasingly frequent national appearances including endorsements of failed presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani and more recently likely Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.

"Being the governor of the state Texas is a great job," Perry said Thursday. "I do not have an interest in going to Washington, D.C., and being somebody's vice president.

Perry said he could do more for Texas by being in Texas "and that's where I'm going to spend my time over the next three to seven years, making a difference in Texas."

Perry angered many conservative Republicans in the state with his endorsement of the former New York City mayor, who has far more liberal stances on issues like abortion, gay rights and guns.

But, Perry seemed to return to the conservative fold when he published a book about the Boy Scouts that attacked the American Civil Liberties Union in what he characterized as a moral struggle for the country's future. Perry has made numerous appearances around the country, including one Thursday in Fort Worth, to promote "On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For."

Perry started his political career as a Democratic member of the Texas House from his rural hometown, Paint Creek in 1982. He rose through the ranks as agricultural commissioner, lieutenant governor and then governor.

The prospect of another Perry term would deflect his lame-duck status, giving him more leverage to accomplish his priorities during the next legislative session, which convenes in January.

Speculation about Perry's future seemed to intensify in recent weeks, as bumper stickers with the "R'' insignia that Perry has used in campaign materials and the slogan "Again in 10" popping up around Austin.

"It's hard to walk away from that," said Austin Republican consultant Bill Miller. "It's a way of life."

___

Associated Press writers Suzanne Gamboa in Washington D.C. and Linda Stewart Ball in Dallas contributed to this report.