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Accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, Rick Perry speaks after being sworn in as secretary of energy. On Friday, he addressed the department's employees.

Keep going for a look back at Rick Perry's tenure in Texas through the eyes of Houston Chronicle editorial cartoonist Nick Anderson. 
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Accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, Rick Perry speaks after being sworn in as secretary of energy. On Friday, he addressed the department's employees.

Keep going for a look back at Rick Perry's tenure in
... more
Photo: Olivier Douliery, MBR
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EDITORIAL CARTOONS: The political life of Texas Gov. Rick Perry

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry appeared in front of a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017 to discuss his qualifications as President Donald Trump's pick for Energy Secretary. The appearance was a bit of an awkward situation for Perry, who once said the entire Department of Energy should be shut down.

See how Perry has been portrayed in the past in this series of political cartoons ...
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EDITORIAL CARTOONS: The political life of Texas Gov. Rick Perry

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry appeared in front of a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017 to discuss his qualifications as President Donald ... more
Photo: Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle
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Perry sends National Guard troops to the border.
Perry sends National Guard troops to the border.
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Perry refuses federal "Race to the Top" funding for schools.
Perry refuses federal "Race to the Top" funding for schools.
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Perry rejects federal unemployment funds.
Perry rejects federal unemployment funds.
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Perry takes a break from attacking the federal government and turns his attention to a potential primary opponent.
Perry takes a break from attacking the federal government and turns his attention to a potential primary opponent.
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Texas balances its budget with the help of fderal stimulus funds, but won't accept federal stimulus funding for the unemployed.
Texas balances its budget with the help of fderal stimulus funds, but won't accept federal stimulus funding for the unemployed.
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Executed convict Cameron Todd Willingham's ghost won't stop haunting Rick Perry
Executed convict Cameron Todd Willingham's ghost won't stop haunting Rick Perry
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Perry leads a prayer rally for ‘nation in crisis’ at the Houston Astrodome.
Perry leads a prayer rally for ‘nation in crisis’ at the Houston Astrodome.
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Stimulus-hating Gov. Perry uses stimulus funds to balance Texas budget
Stimulus-hating Gov. Perry uses stimulus funds to balance Texas budget
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Perry is more outraged by a cartoon in the Sacramento Bee than he is about the results of lax regulation.
Perry is more outraged by a cartoon in the Sacramento Bee than he is about the results of lax regulation.
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Texas leads the nation in the rate of uninsured.
Texas leads the nation in the rate of uninsured.
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Perry enters the GOP presidential primary.
Perry enters the GOP presidential primary.
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Wildfires force a change in Perry's anti-federal government attitude.
Wildfires force a change in Perry's anti-federal government attitude.
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Perry pauses his campaign attacks on the federal government just long enough to request federal disaster aid for wildfires.
Perry pauses his campaign attacks on the federal government just long enough to request federal disaster aid for wildfires.
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Perry's appointee on the UT board is gunning for President Bill Powers.
Perry's appointee on the UT board is gunning for President Bill Powers.
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The Texas drought prompts Perry to suggest that prayer might end the drought.
The Texas drought prompts Perry to suggest that prayer might end the drought.
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Perry tries to force the Travis County DA out of office when she is arrested for driving under the influence.
Perry tries to force the Travis County DA out of office when she is arrested for driving under the influence.
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Perry can't remember the third federal agency he would shut down during a presidential primary debate. Oops.
Perry can't remember the third federal agency he would shut down during a presidential primary debate. Oops.
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U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, a former Texas governor and Texas A&M University Aggies Yell Leader, said Wednesday the election of the first openly gay president of the institution's student body was "stolen" and that the student who had the most votes was disqualified through a process that "made a mockery of due process and transparency."

In an extraordinary submission to the Houston Chronicle's Editorial Board, the energy secretary also suggested that Bobby Brooks' victory was engineered by the Student Government Association in a quest for diversity on the traditionally conservative campus.

BACKGROUND: Openly gay junior to be Texas A&M student body president

Brooks was declared the winner in the campus election by the SGA even though he came in second in the vote count to Robert McIntosh , who is white and was disqualified by student election officials.

McIntosh was disqualified on charges that he did not provide receipts for glow sticks used in a campaign video. He also faced charges of voter intimidation, which were later dismissed on appeal.

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He now says he will be a passionate advocate for the department's core missions

Media: MediaOS Video

The student body's Judicial Court, Perry said, "admitted that the charges were minor and technical, but incredibly, chose to uphold the disqualification."

"The desire of the electorate is overturned, and thousands of student votes are disqualified, because of free glow sticks that appeared for eleven seconds of a months-long campaign," Perry wrote. "Apparently glow sticks merit the same punishment as voter intimidation."

Perry then went on to suggest that the outcome would have been different had McIntosh not been a white male.

BIG JOB: Here's what the Energy Department does

"What if Mr. Brooks had been the candidate disqualified? Would the administration and the student body have allowed the first gay student body president to be voided for using charity glow sticks? Would the student body have allowed a black student body president to be disqualified on anonymous charges of voter intimidation?"

Texas A&M University didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Political scientists who study Texas politics were astounded by Perry's decision to weigh in on College Station campus politics.

Texas A&M's newly-elected student body president Bobby Brooks, a junior from Belton, Texas, poses for a portrait in front of the War Hymn Monument on Monday, March 20, 2017, in Houston. Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle / © 2017 Houston Chronicle
Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle
Texas A&M's newly-elected student body president Bobby Brooks, a junior from Belton, Texas, poses for a portrait in front of the War Hymn Monument on Monday, March 20, 2017, in Houston.

"It's astounding," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University who has studied Texas politics for decades. "He's written it as a call for fairness, not that he's come out against the first gay student body president at A&M, but the extraordinary part is that he took the time to do this when he should have so many bigger fish to fry in his current job."

AGGIE EDUCATION: The traditions, secrets and myths of Texas A&M University

Mark Jones, a Rice University political science professor who has watched Perry political career rise and fall for years, said he, too, was surprised by Perry's intervention into the A&M election.

"This must be his inner Aggie speaking, because this is certainly not something you expect a cabinet secretary to weigh in on – actually, probably not even a governor," Jones said. "It's strange. Of all the things he could have an opinion on, this is probably not the smartest move for a cabinet secretary. He must really be upset about it."

You can read Perry's full opinion on HoustonChronicle.com.