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[[Image:Rick_Perry.jpg|right|thumb|100x|Texas Governor Rick Perry]]

[[Image:Rick_Perry.jpg|right|thumb|100x|Texas Governor Rick Perry]]

James Richard "Rick" Perry (b. 1950) has served as the Republican Governor of Texas from December 2000, when he succeeded then-Governor [[George W. Bush]], to a term scheduled to last until 2010.  He was elected to a full term in 2002, which he served, and then reelected to another full term in 2006 with only 39 percent of the vote.  His background is as a college graduate with a degree in animal science.

James Richard "Rick" Perry (b. 1950) has served as the Republican Governor of Texas from December 2000, when he succeeded then-Governor [[George W. Bush]], to a term scheduled to last until 2010.  A former Democratic state legislator who became a Republican in 1989, Perry was elected to a full term as governor in 2002, which he served, and then reelected to another full term in 2006 with only 39 percent of the vote.  Previously he served as the agriculture commissioner (1991-1999), reflecting his background as a college graduate with a degree in animal science.

He was much criticized concerning his attempt in early 2007 to mandate by executive order the [[HPV vaccine]] for young girls as a condition of entering school.  Defiant, Perry then felt he had no choice but to sign a bill overriding his mandate because it had been passed by a huge majority in both houses of the legislature.

He was much criticized concerning his attempt in early 2007 to mandate by executive order the [[HPV vaccine]] for young girls as a condition of entering school.  Defiant, Perry then felt he had no choice but to sign a bill overriding his mandate because it had been passed by a huge majority in both houses of the legislature.