Even the Texas miracle can enjoy some California Merlot.
Especially if it comes with California money.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, one of the hopefuls for the Republican nomination for president in 2012, is scheduled to make a campaign stop in Healdsburg next week, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
Perry will pop by Healdsburg's elite Jordan Vineyard and Winery, the newspaper reported, where winery CEO John Jordan is hosting the $500 per head fundraiser on Oct. 4.
Republicans in Sonoma County are a rare sight -- about 22 percent of voters in the wine-producing county are Republicans, according to the newspaper -- but not unheard of. Jordan, 39, supported Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty until Pawlenty dropped out, and hosted an event for him in Sonoma earlier in the year. He also met John McCain on a similar swing through Northern California in 2008, according to the newspaper.
Michele Bachmann got a warm reception in Marin during a recent visit, too.
Thus far, Perry appears to be the Republican frontrunner, despite a less-than-stellar performance at a Florida debate last week. Perry is on top of the next-leading challenger, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney -- who owns a beachfront home in La Jolla in San Diego county -- by as much as ten percentage points in some polls.
