The Brief: April 26, 2012

The Big Conversation:

Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, enemies on the campaign trail, made nice on Wednesday.

Perry announced his endorsement of the former Massachusetts governor Wednesday afternoon, shortly after Newt Gingrich announced that he would drop out of the race next week. Perry endorsed Gingrich after exiting the presidential race in January and said he would back him as long as he remained in the race.

"Mitt Romney has earned the Republican Presidential nomination through hard-work, a strong organization, and disciplined message of restoring America after nearly four years of failed job-killing policies from President Obama and his administration," Perry said in a statement. "So today I join the many conservative Republicans across the nation in endorsing Mitt Romney for President and pledge to him, my constituents and the Republican Party that I will continue to work hard to help defeat President Obama."

Perry spent months on the campaign trail painting Romney as a flip-flopper. And in the waning days of his campaign, Perry, in one of his sharpest critiques of Romney, accused him of practicing "vulture capitalism" during his time at Bain Capital.

Any lingering public resentment between the two former rivals, though, appeared to have receded on Wednesday.

Romney, on Twitter, thanked Perry for his endorsement. "Great to have @GovernorPerry's support. Looking forward to working with him -- a lot to be done before November," he said.

Culled:

• Attorney General Greg Abbott's office unintentionally provided the Social Security numbers of millions of Texans to opposing lawyers in the ongoing voter ID case — but no data was publicly leaked, said Daniel Hodge, the state's first assistant attorney general. The list, which was provided to lawyers to determine whether the measure would disproportionately affect minority voters, was supposed to have included only the last four digits of the Social Security numbers. “Any claims the Social Security numbers were exposed to the public are categorically false,” Hodge told The Associated Press.

• University of Texas at El Paso President Diana Natalicio told the Tribune on Wednesday that she was disappointed by UT System Francisco Cigarroa's decision to cancel a high-profile boxing match on her campus after the system determined that the event carried a "higher than normal" amount of risk. An outcry has since erupted in the El Paso community, with local, state and federal officials claiming that the cancellation has damaged the city's reputation, according to the El Paso Times.

“As he was moving up my leg, he moved his hand aggressively up to my crotch and he hurt me. The natural reaction is when someone goes for your crotch and it hurts, you’re going to pull back — and my right arm came down and moved away his hand briskly.” — U.S. Rep. Francisco "Quico" Canseco, R-San Antonio, to Politico on his recent altercation with a airport security agent

Must-Read:

• Church of Scientology drops Bexar suit against ex-member, San Antonio Express-News
• The Supreme Court Would Like To See Your Papers, Slate
• Video: Fertile Ground — The Effects of Family Planning Budget Cuts, The Texas Tribune