Though Texas Gov. Rick Perry has not been making the rounds of the likely presidential contenders, you might remember that John Hood mentioned him recently as one of the most likely 2012 Republican nominees.

Newsweek is the latest publication to discuss Perry’s chances, and a description of his record offers an interesting contrast to the story in North Carolina.

This year’s legislature, under Perry’s cajoling, delivered on some of the right’s most cherished ambitions: a law requiring doctors to run a fetal sonogram before performing an abortion, a measure requiring voters to present a photo ID at the polling booth, and a version of loser-pays tort reform. But the action that really has conservatives looking to Texas with longing was a budget deal that covered a revenue shortfall through spending cuts, without raising taxes or touching the state’s $9.4 billion rainy-day fund.

The Dallas Morning News editorialized against the “mean Texas budget,” noting that the spending cuts came at the expense of education, veterans, and care for the state’s neediest. Perry is unmoved. “Texas has made the hard decisions. Twice while I’ve been the governor, we’ve had budget shortfalls, once in ’03 and this time. We’ve made the decision: reduce your spending, don’t raise taxes. And the recovery that occurs after that is pretty substantial.”

Indeed, the Lone Star State’s economic success over the last decade has been notable. Since 2001 (roughly the tenure of Perry, the longest-serving Texas governor) the state has gained more than 730,000 jobs. In contrast, California, Texas’s antithesis in political culture and a favorite Perry rhetorical foil, has lost more than 600,000 jobs in the same period (and is on course to lose more jobs this year than last).