The Midday Brief: Jan. 19, 2012

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "Rick Perry adviser Ray Sullivan said the Texas governor will not rule out running for re-election — 'as you know, we don't have term limits in Texas' —  or even running for the presidency in four years. 'Keep in mind that almost all of our nominees in the last 50 years have been on their second attempt at the White House, so Republican voters tend to like experienced candidates that they’ve seen for a long time,' Sullivan said." — Perry Could Run Again, Adviser Says

• "What a difference five months makes. Gov. Rick Perry launched his presidential bid in August, a late arrival to the already crowded Republican field. After a dramatic plunge in the polls, he called it quits two days before the South Carolina primary. From debates and campaign stops to TV ads and parodies, here’s an interactive look at the rise and fall of Perry’s presidential bid." — The Rise and Fall of Rick Perry's Presidential Bid

• "Buried in the Texas Democratic Party’s campaign filing this week was a $210,000 deposit with a cryptic heading: 'confidential litigation settlement.'" — Texas Democratic Party Quietly Settles Green Party Ballot Lawsuit

• "In the state's largest-ever Medicaid fraud recovery, Johnson & Johnson agreed Thursday to pay Texas $158 million to settle a lawsuit over its efforts to get the schizophrenia drug Risperdal on an approved list for the state's poorest patients." — State Settles Largest-Ever Medicaid Fraud Suit

Your afternoon reading:

• "A GOP presidential primary marked by the unpredictable took its sharpest turns yet Thursday and the fallout could determine whether the campaign effectively ends this weekend or continues for weeks or even months. Over a period of mere hours, the roller-coaster Republican race was shaken by a cascade of events: An explosive ABC interview with Newt Gingrich’s second wife, Marianne, in which she describes his request for an 'open marriage'; a recount of the Iowa caucuses revealing that Rick Santorum won more votes than Mitt Romney; and Rick Perry’s abrupt decision to drop out of the race and get behind Gingrich." — The campaign's wildest day, Politico
  

• "A frenetic swirl of developments in the Republican presidential campaign over the last 24 hours is testing whether Newt Gingrich can manage tricky political crosscurrents as he seeks to emerge as the undisputed alternative to Mitt Romney." — Busy Day Both Tests and Rewards Gingrich, The New York Times

• "The question I posed yesterday — does Newt Gingrich have momentum in South Carolina? — now appears to have an unambiguous answer. Yes, Mr. Gingrich does have momentum — and a lot of it. Six different South Carolina polls have been released so far today, and they show a split in their results. In two traditional polls with live interviewers, one by Marist for NBC News showed Mitt Romney leading by 10 percentage points, and the other by the Tarrance Group for Politico had him ahead by 7 points. … Meanwhile, three automated polls — by Rasmussen Reports, Public Policy Polling and InsiderAdvantage — have Mr. Gingrich in the lead instead, by margins ranging from 2 points to 6 points. All of the interviews for these polls were conducted on Wednesday, after the debate and the qualified endorsement Mr. Gingrich received from Sarah Palin." — Gingrich Tied With Romney in South Carolina Forecast, FiveThirtyEight