Perry supported Dewhurst after Hutchison finally bowed out; of course he beat Hutchison himself two years earlier despite GHWB’s preference for Hutchison.
Dewhurst is an establishment moderate who fought conservatives in Austin for billions more in spending. That’s exactly why limited-government conservatives throughout Texas supported Ted Cruz. LaRaza Rick did not. That, and his well-known record of being pro-ILLEGAL alien, precludes, in the minds of many conservatives, Perry from any consideration for POTUS.