Yesterday, Texas governor Rick Perry publically stated that he is seriously contemplating running for re-election as governor in 2014. Of course, this and related statements by Perry regarding re-election may very well simply be part of the governor’s strategy to avoid being prematurely labeled a lame duck with 33 months still remaining in his current term. They do, however, remind us of the potential for Perry to be in office for a total of at least 18 consecutive years.
At present, among the 170 governors/premiers in the Western Hemisphere’s six federations (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, United States, Venezuela), Perry holds the distinction of having been continuously in office longer than all but one of his fellow governors/premiers. Only Gildo Insfrán, governor of the Argentine province of Formosa (population 528,000) since December 1995, has been consecutively in office for a longer period than Perry. Like Perry, Insfrán held the post of lieutenant governor prior to becoming governor.
Within the region, among all national and state/province executives, Perry occupies the fourth position in terms of longevity. He has been in office since December 2000, trailing Denzil Douglas, the prime minister of tiny Saint Kitts and Nevis (population 51,000) since July 1995, Insfrán and Hugo Chávez, who has been president of Venezuela since February 1999.
Mark P. Jones is the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy’s fellow in political science as well as the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies and chair of the Department of Political Science at Rice University.