English: Citizens United and Congressman Jeff Duncan are teaming up to bring grassroots activists from across South Carolina and the surrounding area to hear directly from national conservative leaders at the South Carolina Freedom Summit on Saturday, May 9, 2015. With the critically important South Carolina Primary less than a year away, the Summit will be a launch point for conservative ideas as we head towards 2016.

The Freedom Summit will focus on how we can get America back on track by focusing on our core conservative principles of pro-growth economics, social conservatism, and a strong national defense. This must-attend Summit in the Palmetto State is free to the public and will be held at the beautiful Peace Center in Greenville.

Stay tuned for further updates as we announce more nationally recognized speakers in the weeks ahead. Since the Summit is free, we encourage you to sign up early because we have a limited number of seats. Please tell your family and friends about this important grassroots event. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, May 9th in Greenville for the South Carolina Freedom Summit!

James Richard "Rick" Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American Republican politician who served as the 47th Governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. A Republican, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry is the longest serving governor in Texas state history. As a result, he is the only governor in modern Texas history to have appointed at least one person to every eligible state office, board, or commission position (as well as to several elected offices to which the governor can appoint someone to fill an unexpired term, such as six of the nine current members of the Texas Supreme Court).

Perry was elected to full gubernatorial terms in 2002, 2006 and 2010 and is the fourth Texas governor (after Allan Shivers, Price Daniel, and John Connally) to serve three terms. With a tenure in office to date of 14 years, 140 days, Perry was, at the time he left office, the second longest serving current U.S. governor – after Terry Branstad of Iowa. Perry served as chairman of the Republican Governors Association in 2008 (succeeding Sonny Perdue of Georgia) and again in 2011.

Perry won the Texas 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary election, defeating U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and former Wharton County Republican Party Chairwoman and businesswoman Debra Medina. IIn the 2010 Texas gubernatorial election, Perry won a third term by defeating former Houston mayor Bill White and Kathie Glass.

On August 13, 2011, Perry announced in South Carolina that he was running for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2012 presidential election. Perry suspended his campaign in January 2012 and eventually endorsed Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

On July 8, 2013, Perry announced that he would not seek re-election to his fourth term in the 2014 election, planning to retire instead.[6] Unnamed sources said to be close to Perry told the National Review that Perry may focus on another White House bid for 2016.

On August 15, 2014, Perry was indicted by a grand jury on felony charges for abuse of power. He was accused of coercing a Democratic District Attorney who had been convicted of drunk driving to resign by threatening to veto funding for state public corruption prosecutors. The indictment received some support and also wide criticism from all sides of the political spectrum, and editorial criticism from major US newspapers.