Momentum is building in the conservative movement for a third-party alternative to Donald Trump Donald John TrumpDHS requesting more troops at border: report House passes legislation to re-open government despite opposition from Trump Maxine Waters: Much of my work will be undoing Mulvaney's 'damage' to CFPB MORE and Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonDem introduces bills to eliminate electoral college, stop presidents from pardoning themselves Cracks beginning to show in GOP shutdown resolve Mitt Romney shows establishment still ignorant of wartime casualties MORE. 
 
 The effort got a big boost from Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanRomney writes new chapter in his like-hate relationship with Trump Romney warns Republicans about Trump Ocasio-Cortez, Khanna to oppose Pelosi-backed rules package MORE (R-Wis.) on Thursday when he said he wasn’t yet ready to back Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. 
 
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 Ryan’s refusal to endorse Trump, at least for the time being, could provide tacit encouragement to the Republicans who are seeking to field another candidate. 
 
 Conservative activists led by Erick Erickson, a writer and radio host, and other well-connected strategists plan to hold at least two organizing conference calls before the weekend to figure out their strategy. 
 
 “A number of movement conservatives fiscal and social are actively now looking at third-party and independent options,” Erickson said Thursday. “We all find Trump unacceptable. We don’t think he can beat Hillary Clinton regardless of whether there’s a third party or not, so why not put an alternative out there.” 
 
 Time is of the essence. 
 
 Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellHouse passes legislation to re-open government despite opposition from Trump Overnight Defense: Pompeo warns Iran against space launches | Top Army official makes surprise Afghanistan visit | Trump reportedly considering Jim Webb to replace Mattis Cracks beginning to show in GOP shutdown resolve MORE (R-Ky.) have both backed Trump as the nominee, touting him as the candidate who can keep Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, out of the White House. Other Republicans could soon follow suit. 
 
 But the coronation of Trump appears to have been halted by Ryan, who has a strong following among conservative lawmakers and activists and was Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012. 
 
 “To be perfectly candid with you … I’m just not ready to do that at this point. I’m not there right now,” Ryan told CNN’s Jake Tapper when asked about backing Trump. 
 
 “I hope to though, and I want to. But what is required is to unify this party. And the bulk of the burden on unifying the party will have to come from our presumptive nominee.” 
 
 The clock is fast ticking down for a third-party run, at least when it comes to getting on the ballot in many states. Independent candidates running for president must file applications and petitions of support in Texas, which has 38 electoral votes, the second-most of any state, by May 9, according to the Texas secretary of state’s office. 
 
 “It’s an uphill climb, everybody recognizes that, regardless of the route we go, but there are a lot of Republican donors sitting on the sidelines who would rather fund a third party than fund Donald Trump,” said Erickson, who said campaign finance experts within the movement estimate it will cost a minimum of $250 million to fund a third-party bid. 
 
 But even if a third-party candidate failed to make the ballot in many states, the mere presence of a prominent alternative in the race could be enough to deny Trump the White House. 
 
 Conservatives have floated several names as a potential Trump spoiler. 
 
 They include former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (R), who is poised to become the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee; former Sen. Tom Coburn Thomas (Tom) Allen CoburnThe Hill's Morning Report — Presented by PhRMA — Worries grow about political violence as midterms approach President Trump’s war on federal waste American patients face too many hurdles in regard to health-care access MORE (R-Okla.), who was long an outspoken conservative voice in Congress; and freshman Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who early Thursday morning posted on Facebook an open letter calling for a third-party option to Trump and Clinton. 
 
 National Review, a leading conservative publication, published a piece Thursday afternoon making the case for Johnson, praising him as a self-made businessman and a fiscal conservative who favors free trade and gun rights. 
 
 “Everybody is looking at Gary Johnson right now to see where decides to settle on some of these issues,” Erickson said. 
 
 He added that Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulThe Hill's Morning Report — Pelosi to reclaim Speakership amid shutdown Romney writes new chapter in his like-hate relationship with Trump Comey defends Romney for ‘calling out’ Trump MORE (R), who dropped his bid for the GOP nomination earlier this year, “would be viable” as well. 
 
 Erickson said the key issue is abortion. Any candidate who will at least leave it to the states instead of the federal government to set abortion laws could draw strong support, he said. 
 
 The biggest task ahead is finding a candidate conservatives can rally behind and who has the stature needed to become a national candidate and take on Trump. 
 
 So far Coburn and Sasse have not yet indicated publicly they want the job. Both declined requests for comment on Thursday. 
 
 The upcoming filing deadlines to get on the ballot in all 50 states give the dissident conservatives strong incentive to get behind someone like Johnson, who would be guaranteed ballot spots because of his affiliation with an established party. 
 
 Erickson, however, said there’s a compelling legal case for pushing back the state ballot deadlines until the Republican and Democratic nominating conventions in late July. 
 
 The situation gives conservatives plenty to talk about in the next 24 hours. 
 
 “There will be two others before close of business on Friday,” Erickson said of the conference calls he and allies have had to plot strategy. ||||| Rick Perry will support Trump 
 
 Rick Perry speaks to the crowd on Sept. 11, 2015, in St. Louis, as he announced he was dropping his presidential bid. (Photo: Michael B. Thomas, Getty Images) 
 
 Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry went from being one of Donald Trump's most bitter opponents to a member of the presumptive GOP nominee's growing support base. 
 
 Perry, one of several former GOP presidential hopefuls, told CNN's Dana Bash that while Trump is not his ideal choice, he will nonetheless do whatever he can to support the presumptive Republican nominee. 
 
 "He is not a perfect man. But what I do believe is that he loves this country and he will surround himself with capable, experienced people and he will listen to them," Perry said. 
 
 This comes just hours after House Speaker Paul Ryan, a 2012 vice presidential candidate, said he was not yet ready to support Trump. Trump would need to unify the Republican Party to get his vote. 
 
 Bash asked if he’d be open to being his running mate and Perry responded: “"I am going to be open to any way I can help. I am not going to say no.” 
 
 "He is one of the most talented people who has ever run for the president I have ever seen," Perry added. 
 
 Perry didn’t always have such warm feelings for Trump. In July, when he was still in the presidential race, Perry gave an entire speech calling the billionaire "a cancer on conservatism." 
 
 Some have suggested to Perry that he run as a third-party candidate. He dismissed that notion as "quixotic," according to CNN. 
 
 "I believe in the process, and the process has said Donald Trump will be our nominee," Perry said, "and I'm going to support him and help him and do what I can." 
 
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– If you're a conservative with political ambitions—and, ideally, with a few hundred million dollars burning a hole in your pocket—now is the time to get in touch with the #NeverTrump movement. Anti-Donald Trump conservative activists have stepped up their efforts to find a third-party alternative, but they'll have to file their paperwork in Texas by May 9 to get on the ballot, with deadlines in other states following soon, the Hill reports. Possibilities include former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party's 2012 nominee, and Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, who called for an alternative to Trump and Clinton in a Facebook post Thursday. Rick Perry had also been mentioned, but he earned the scorn of Trump foes on Thursday when he dismissed the idea as "quixotic," endorsed Trump, and said he would be open to becoming his running mate, reports USA Today. Conservative blogger Erick Erickson has taken a leading role in the search for a Trump alternative and plans to hold talks with like-minded conservatives in the days to come, CNN reports. "It's an uphill climb, everybody recognizes that, regardless of the route we go, but there are a lot of Republican donors sitting on the sidelines who would rather fund a third party than fund Donald Trump," he tells the Hill. He says campaign finance experts believe a third-party bid would cost at least $250 million. Trump meanwhile, has a different suggestion for a third-party candidate. "Bernie Sanders has been treated terribly by the Democrats—both with delegates & otherwise," he tweeted Thursday. "He should show them, & run as an Independent." (Paul Ryan says he's "just not ready" to support Trump.)