How many governors have endorsed Rick Perry? Zero.

Who's endorsing Rick Perry? Mitt Romney has two governors, and 13 members of Congress, notes DCDecoder. Rick Perry has endorsements from nine members of Congress. Does it matter?

Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry greets supporters in Newport Beach, Calif., last Thursday.

Chris Carlson/AP

September 12, 2011

UPDATE: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has just endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry for president, stomping all over former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's endorsement of Mitt Romney this morning and putting the first gubernatorial notch in Perry's endorsement belt.

When ex-candidate and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced his support for Mitt Romney Monday morning, it was a small coup for the former Massachusetts governor, potentially giving Romney some extra weight in his bid to be seen as the establishment candidate. (See Pawlenty’s exclusive interview on Fox & Friends below.)

And looking at the battle for endorsements overall, there have been some interesting trends.

USA Today notes that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been peeling away Congressional endorsements from Romney ever since he entered the race. Since the beginning of August, Romney has won just one Congressional nod, while Perry has received 9. (In total, 8 House members and 1 senator have endorsed Perry, while Romney has the backing of 11 House members and 2 senators. You can see the full list here.)

A more interesting stat to Decoder, however, may be this one. Number of fellow governors to endorse Perry so far: ZERO.

In contrast, Romney’s got two gubernatorial endorsements. Why no love for the Texas governor, who until he announced his campaign for president was the head of the Republican Governors’ Association?

Want more?

  • Read this piece from The New York Times archives on how endorsements aren’t really worth much. (Decoder especially liked this quote from political scientist Ross Baker: “The political value of an endorsement by a member of Congress is only slightly more useful than an endorsement by a candidate’s mother.”)

Like your politics unscrambled and bite-size? Check out DCDecoder.com