Perry calls Iowa a 'quirky place' after finishing fifth

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday that he was staying in the presidential race, blaming his poor showing in the Iowa caucuses on the "loosey goosey process," which allowed Democrats to vote.

"This wasn't a hard decision," Perry told reporters, according to CBS News. "[Iowa] is a quirky place, a quirky process to say the least and we're going to go into places where they have actual primaries and there are going to be real Republicans voting."

"I'm excited about getting out with real Republicans and laying out --- and not that there aren't real Republicans here in Iowa, but the fact it is was a pretty loosey goosey process and you had a lot of people who were there that admitted they were Democrats voting in the caucuses last night," he said.

Late Tuesday Perry said he would reassess his White House bid after suffering a heavy defeat in Iowa's first vote of the 2012 presidential race.

Photo credit: Jon Mallard

[Ed note: This article was edited after publication]