Though Gov. Rick Perry of Texas still hasn't made it official, two national polls released during the week show that if he does launch a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, he'll start right on the heels of front-runner Mitt Romney.
A poll taken by ORC International for CNN unveiled Friday shows Romney leading the pack with 16 percent and Perry a close second with 14 percent. Two other candidates who are considering entering the race -- former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani -- are tied for third at 13 percent, with surging freshman Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota right behind at 12 percent.
The rest of the pack trail in single digits. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas took sixth with 8 percent. Businessman Herman Cain came in seventh with 6 percent, followed by a fellow Georgian, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who garnered 4 percent. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota took 3 percent, followed by former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania with 2 percent. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman lags behind with 1 percent.
The poll of 455 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents was taken from July 18-20 and has a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.
Perry also did well in a poll taken by Anderson Robbins Research and Shaw & Company Research for Fox News. That one was released late Thursday.
Romney topped the Fox News poll, taking 17 percent while once again, Perry placed second with 14 percent. Bachmann came in third with 10 percent.
The rest of the field is in single digits. Giuliani, Palin and Paul are all knotted together in fourth place with 9 percent. Cain took seventh with 5 percent, followed once again by Gingrich with 4 percent. Pawlenty and Santorum tied for ninth with 2 percent followed by Huntsman at 1 percent.
The poll of 323 Republican primary voters was taken between July 17-19 and has a margin of error of +/- 5.5 percent.
Elected lieutenant governor of the Lone Star State in 1998, Perry moved up to the top job when George W. Bush was sworn in as president after the 2000 election. Perry has faced three gubernatorial elections and prevailed -- most recently turning back a serious primary challenge from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
A sharp critic of the role of the federal government, Perry, a two-time head of the Republican Governors Association, said throughout 2010 that he is not interested in making a run for the presidency, but opened the door at the end of May 2011 for launching a bid of his own.
Perry has had a busy July and signs are increasingly pointing to his entering the race. This past week he was out in California -- his third trip to that state in recent weeks -- meeting potential donors. He also has received briefings on international issues set up by former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
