Leading Obama critic endorses Romney for 2012

Texas Governor Rick Perry, Romney's top rival in the Republican nomination race, is a favorite of both social conservatives and the party's fiscally conservative Tea Party movement.

Romney founded the investment firm Bain Capital and has touted his private sector experience to make the case that he is better equipped to fix the troubled U.S. economy than Perry. Issa cited that experience as he announced the endorsement.

"President Obama never worked in the real economy –– we can't afford to have another president who has spent his career outside the real economy," Issa said in a statement.