Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul said Friday that he expects supporters of Texas Governor Rick Perry, a former Republican presidential candidate, to join his bid for president.
Speaking with reporters on Friday, the Texas Republican congressman said he expects supporters of Mr. Perry to support his campaign message, noting that support could come from unpredictable places.
“People saw him as a fellow Texan, and I just think that I’ll get some of those votes,” Paul said. “I think it was hard to predict what would happen when [Herman] Cain got out, but our polling showed that we jumped a bit … and we picked up some of those votes,” said Mr. Paul.
Mr. Paul said Mr. Perry’s decision to drop out of the race and endorse Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, was largely the result of weak poll numbers and failure to capture support in early primary states, such as Iowa and New Hampshire.
“His [Perry's] numbers kept going down, he didn’t have any votes to pass on — I don’t think you can pass your votes on anyway — and I think they’re going to be distributed to the various candidates and they probably have already,” said Mr. Paul.
Mr. Perry announced Thursday that he would remove himself from the race. Recent polls numbers showed the Texas Republican failing to garner enough support to make Saturday’s South Carolina primary a competitive race. Polls show Mr. Paul trailing Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. The Texas Republican has sought to build his base of support in the Palmetto state, increasing his time on the ground in recent days.
