Jay Root
is a native of Liberty. He never knew any reporters growing up, and he has never taken a journalism class in his life. But somehow he got hooked on the news business. It all started when Root walked into the offices of The Daily Texan, his college newspaper, during his last year at the University of Texas in 1987. He couldn't resist the draw: it was the biggest collection of misfits ever assembled. After graduating, he took a job at a Houston chemical company and soon realized it wasn't for him. Root applied for an unpaid internship at the Houston Post in 1990, and it turned into a full-time job that same year. He has been a reporter ever since. Root has covered natural disasters, live music and Texas politics — not necessarily in that order. He was Austin bureau chief of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for a dozen years, most of them good. He also covered politics and the Legislature for The Associated Press before joining the staff of the Tribune.Root is the author of “Oops! A Diary From The 2012 Campaign Trail,” an insider’s account of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s dramatic collapse in the 2012 presidential race. The book was released in September, 2012.
jroot@texastribune.org
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photo illustration by: Bob Daemmrich/Todd Wiseman
Gov. Rick Perry, who once scored big on land deals, gave up much of the profits on Wall Street and no longer directly owns any land or even a house, new disclosures indicate. The modest holdings are a big contrast to those of his wealthy rival Mitt Romney.
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He’s still the front-runner, but Gov. Rick Perry has entered a crucial and more competitive phase of the 2012 Republican presidential contest, ratcheting up pressure on him ahead of his third televised debate this week in Orlando.
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photo by: Robert Chris Daemmrich
Gov. Rick Perry takes a question at the Black Hawk County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner in Waterloo, Iowa, on Aug. 14, 2011.
Tea Party activists staged a news conference Monday urging Gov. Rick Perry to take more stringent action against illegal immigration. They want the governor to enact a ban on so-called “sanctuary cities.”
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Gov. Rick Perry’s state office has temporarily stopped deleting emails every seven days, thanks to the efforts of Wisconsin-based political activist John Washburn. His request for the emails has shed new light on a controversial records destruction policy.
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photo illustration by: Emily Ramshaw / Bob Daemmrich / Todd Wiseman
Gov. Rick Perry on Monday found himself under attack from an unfamiliar place — the right — in the latest GOP debate as his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination attacked him for being insufficiently conservative on key issues.
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photo illustration by: Emily Ramshaw / Bob Daemmrich / Todd Wiseman
We're liveblogging as Gov. Rick Perry faces off against seven other GOP presidential contenders tonight in Tampa, Fla., in a debate co-hosted by CNN and the Tea Party Express. It's Perry's second debate since he became a candidate.
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Rick Perry, who once said he was “intrigued and open” to an amnesty program for illegal Mexican workers, is now courting the support of a famous immigration hardliner: Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona.
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Excerpt from an interview between Jay Root and Sheriff Joe Arpaio about Gov. Rick Perry.
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Excerpt from an interview between Jay Root and Sheriff Joe Arpaio about Gov. Rick Perry.
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Excerpt from an interview between Jay Root and Sheriff Joe Arpaio about Gov. Rick Perry.
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Excerpt from an interview between Jay Root and Sheriff Joe Arpaio about Gov. Rick Perry.
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A burned pickup truck and boat are all that's visible in the forest off Texas Hwy 21 near Bastrop State Park after the wildfire went through on September 6, 2011.
Gov. Rick Perry had been expected to appear in Bastrop County today to tour areas damaged by wildfires and hold a press briefing, but after state and local officials spoke at the briefing, aides said that the governor had remained in Austin.
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Gov. Rick Perry took shots from all directions Wednesday in his first nationally televised debate as his opponents unloaded on the presidential front-runner again and again, seeking relevance in a line of questioning that largely centered on Perry.
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Gov. Rick Perry at the Veterans for Foreign Wars annual convention in San Antonio on Aug. 29, 2011.
Hordes of reporters have descended onto the grounds of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to see if Rick Perry will stumble or shine in his first nationally televised debate.
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Rick Perry's front-running presidential campaign went on the attack a day before the Texas governor is scheduled to appear at his first nationally televised debate. The campaign hit both Mitt Romney, Perry's main challenger, and Ron Paul, who unveiled a new attack ad against the governor.
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