Long before Gov. Scott Walker watched Democrats flee Wisconsin last week, a similar scenario played out in Texas when another first-term governor faced a contentious political debate.
In 2003, Gov. Rick Perry was only beginning to make his mark on the Lone Star State. Eight years later, the experience gives him a unique perspective on Walker’s situation. During an interview Friday in Washington, D.C., Perry had nothing nice to say about the 14 Wisconsin senators who ran for Illinois to prevent a quorum in the state Senate.
“Instead of respecting the democratic process, they run off and somehow or another think that’s going to be productive,” Perry said. “I don’t think it is. I think people, they look at this like, you know, the kid who takes his ball. I can’t win, I can’t play, then nobody else is going to.”
He added: “That is immature, is juvenile and at the end of the day, I’ll betcha the folks of Wisconsin, they punish those senators rather than heralding them as heroes.”
The debate in Texas over redistricting lasted for months. First, House Democrats fled to neighboring Oklahoma. Then months later Senate Democrats took off to New Mexico. Ultimately, one of the Senate Democrats returned to Austin, and the plan passed.
The stalemate in Wisconsin shows no sign of ending. The Republican-led Assembly adopted Walker’s budget repair bill by a vote of 51-17. Walker has said his proposal is the only way to avoid laying off thousands of workers.
Perry said Republicans governors stand firmly behind him. This week the Republican Governors Association launched a petition, Stand With Scott, to bolster Walker.
“I happen to think Scott is right,” Perry said. “I think his constituents who voted for him last November sent the message of ‘We want a government that is more efficient and costs less money.’ He heard that, that’s what he’s doing.”