During the 160 days between August, 13 2011 and January, 19 2012 Texas Gov. Rick Perry spent running for the GOP president nomination, the state of Texas spent $3.6 million on his security alone, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.
The Texas Department of Public Safety spent more than $1.8 million on airfare, food, fuel, lodging and other travel expenses during Perry’s presidential bid, plus an additional $1.8 million in overtime compensation paid to agents assigned to the detail. As more agents file overtime, the number could continue to rise.
Perry spokesperson Catherine Frazier commented that “Providing security detail to the governor and his family is a policy that goes back many administrations and is no different from when Governor Bush ran for president.”
The AP points out that, as expected, a presidential bid also kept Perry from spending much time on state business:
Of the160 days as a GOP presidential hopeful, Perry had no scheduled state events on 128 of those. And he logged only approximately 27 hours and 30 minutes of actual work time on the 32 days Texas matters did appear on his official schedule.
