DES MOINES, Iowa — Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on Friday endorsed the presidential bid of his home-state governor, Rick Perry.

McCaul is the first in the Texas delegation to give Perry his official backing since the Lone Star State governor confirmed he’s seeking the GOP nomination.

“America needs jobs and Rick Perry knows how to create them,” McCaul said in a statement. “He has balanced budgets in the worst of economic times and cut job-killing taxes. Rick Perry has exhibited the type of common-sense, conservative leadership in Texas that our nation desperately needs and I am proud to endorse him for President.”

Perry and the Texas Congressional delegation are known to have a frosty relationship, which means other endorsements could be far behind. For example, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison challenged Perry’s re-election in the 2010 GOP primary with the tacit backing of several Texas Republican House Members.

Some Republicans view McCaul as one of Perry’s closer allies in the delegation.

Two of the best-known Texans on Capitol Hill, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, indicated to Roll Call earlier this year that they would stay neutral in this race even if Perry jumped into the field.

Perry will announce Saturday in South Carolina that he’s running for president, followed by an evening trip to New Hampshire. He’ll skip the Ames straw poll Saturday in Iowa, but he plans to finish off the weekend at a Lincoln Day Dinner in the Hawkeye State on Sunday.