Rick Perry Will Announce on 2016 Bid Later This Year

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo

WASHINGTON - Texas Gov. Rick Perry will announce whether he is eyeing a 2016 presidential bid later this year, a spokesman for Perry told ABC News.

But first, Perry will decide whether he will run for a third full term as governor in 2014. Perry will decide about the gubernatorial bid this summer and "will probably make a decision about 2016 later in the year," Perry spokesman Josh Havens said. The Texas governor first announced his time frame in an interview with Shark Tank, a political blog.

Perry, who is the longest consecutive serving governor in the country, ran for president in 2012. He entered the race several months after all of his opponents and just six weeks after having major back surgery.

Though he quickly became a frontrunner once he entered the race, Perry stumbled soon after when his opponents attacked him for his stance on immigration and after he famously uttered "Oops!" at a debate when he forgot the third department he said he would eliminate if he became president.

Perry dropped out of the 2012 race just two days before the South Carolina primary and threw his support behind Newt Gingrich before eventually endorsing the Republican Party's nominee Mitt Romney.