The announcement came Thursday morning: Governor Rick Perry announced he would abandon his quest to become the Republican presidential nominee.
"We're very glad that he took the opportunity to represent us in that process,” Action 4 political analyst and Rick Perry's close friend, Hollis Rutledge said. "But I think that he will pay an important and critical role in American politics now and in the future."
Perry is headed back to Austin where he will continue leading the state for the next three years.
"I think it is time for the governor to come home," State Rep. Veronica Gonzales said. "There's a lot of monies associated with the governor having to travel around the country, security and other matters so I think it was time for him to go ahead and come home."
Fellow Republican and State Representative for District 40, Aaron Peña said he’s glad to have him focus on Texas again.
"When the governor comes back we've got a number of issues that we have to deal with,” he said. “School finance is one, redistricting has not been completed by the courts so we may have to tweat that."
After announcing his withdrawal, Gov. Perry endorsed former Speaker Newt Gingrich, a move local republican leaders mirrored.
"It goes without saying he is certainly a candidate to be reckoned with and to should be respected," Rutledge said, though he acknowledged that there are other strong candidates.
"I'll just say this that Gingrich has made a good effort to attract Latinos to his campaign," Peña concluded.
The Edinburg Republican said he will meet with Gingrich and other Latino Republicans in Miami next week to discuss how they can work together.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT