CNN: “Four years after his first presidential campaign was crushed by the weight of his debate gaffe and stump speech mishaps, the governor who spent 14 years presiding over Texas is launching his second bid for the Republican nomination on Thursday.”

“He’s ditched the signature cowboy boots and added black-rimmed glasses. He’s spent the intervening years recovering from health problems and boning up on policy. Now, Perry will ask GOP primary voters for a second chance.”

Rick Perry (R) “has chosen Dallas to officially declare his second run for the Republican presidential nomination in three weeks,” the Dallas Morning News reports.

“For months Perry has said that he would announce his decision in May or June. But his constant travel to the early contest states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida has left little doubt of his intentions.”

“I’m the candidate. And my views are the ones that matter.”

— Rick Perry (R), quoted by the Des Moines Register, forgetting that he’s not officially said he’s a candidate for president when asked about the views of his aides.

“I wasn’t healthy. I wasn’t prepared. This time I’m both.”

— Rick Perry, quoted by the Greenville News, on running for president again.

“It’s a frequent whisper among Republicans in Iowa and the nation’s capital: Don’t count Rick Perry out just yet,” the Texas Tribune reports.

“Dogged by the infamous ‘oops’ moment of his failed 2012 presidential campaign and by an indictment related to a 2013 veto, Perry has mostly been an afterthought in early national speculation on the 2016 presidential race… But on the ground in Iowa, which will kick off the 2016 primary season, Perry is taken seriously.”

Rick Perry was among the first of GOP presidential hopefuls to criticize Hillary Clinton for using a personal email account for government business, the Texas Tribune reports.

Perry said the findings add to a “pattern of non-transparency… It’s an ethical issue that’s going to have to be addressed.”

“However, Perry is no stranger to using a personal email account to discuss state business, according to two lawmakers familiar with email exchanges involving the governor that surfaced two years ago. The extent to which Perry used his personal account over the years in unclear, but legislators and open-government advocates said it seriously undercuts his criticism of Clinton.”

“Rick Perry, the former Texas governor who is planning to make a second run for president in 2016 after his unsuccessful campaign four years ago, is putting more pieces of infrastructure in place,” the New York Times reports.

“The latest moves are for a super PAC, which can raise high amounts to support a candidate, that will back his effort. The super PAC is to be steered by Austin Barbour, a Mississippi-based lobbyist and political operative, according to three people privy to the staffing decisions at the group.”

Rick Perry was in Iowa yesterday and said he’d learned his lesson from his failed 2012 presidential campaign, the Des Moines Register reports.

Said Perry: “I parachuted in here and I didn’t give Iowans an opportunity to get to know who I was and talk to them about the issues. I will not make that mistake again.”

The Houston Chronicle reports Perry “has brought on board four longtime Republican operatives to help him assemble a likely 2016 presidential campaign in Iowa.”

Rick Perry (R) predicted that the next president will have a track record of executive experience, NH Journal reports.

Said Perry: “Americans are going to want someone who has been tested, someone who’s got results in their background and we’re not going to choose another young, untested United States senator. I don’t think that is where Americans are going to want to go.”

Rick Perry (R) told the Daily Caller that governors are much better suited for the presidency than senators.

Said Perry: “Governors have to make choices every day. Governors are judged on the results of what we do. Senators talk.”

He added: “United States senators, by choosing to go into that line of work, don’t get to do that. They don’t get to learn, or to exhibit their leadership ability and have clear results of their actions.”

“I wear this as a badge of honor.”

— Rick Perry (R), quoted by the Houston Chronicle, on his indictment on abuse-of-power charges while serving as Texas governor.

Rick Perry (R) said that a judge’s decision to allow the criminal case against him to continue will not affect his decision on running for president in 2016, The Hill reports.

Said Perry: “No, we’re going to continue on. As a matter of fact, I’m just back from South Carolina, where we had great crowds and a lot of enthusiasm, after I spent two days in Iowa with, again, an opportunity to talk to people.”

“A judge denied a second and more substantial request Tuesday by former Gov. Rick Perry to dismiss the indictment against him prior to trial, likely extending his criminal case for the next several months as Perry continues mounting a possible presidential campaign,” the Austin American Statesman reports.

Rick Perry told a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition that they couldn’t trust the official unemployment rate coming out of Washington, the Huffington Post reports.

Said Perry: “It’s been massaged, it’s been doctored.”