COLUMBIA, S.C. — Texas Gov. Rick Perry was raising money at campaign headquarters when an Associated Press reporter called his press staff to ask what he was doing. An hour later, he walked into AP’s statehouse bureau to show he was alive and well and not, say, in South America for a romantic rendezvous.
Most of the nation’s governors were willing — even eager — to prove they were on the job after revelations that South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford ditched his security detail and disappeared for a secret week-long tryst with a mistress in Argentina.
The day after Sanford admitted his indiscretion at a tearful, rambling news conference, The Associated Press called governors’ offices nationwide to ask: What’s the boss doing right now?
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman was in his office, but a few minutes after a reporter called, he, too, showed up at AP’s Capitol bureau — a state trooper, the lieutenant governor and his chief of staff in tow — to jokingly show he could be accounted for.
Sanford’s vanishing act had his fellow governors scratching their heads, if not cracking wise. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer began a news conference Wednesday by joking he was late because he had been in Venezuela.
“What was he thinking?” said Schweitzer, a Democrat. “Didn’t he think anyone would be watching?”
Generally, state officials and staffers should be able to find a governor on a moment’s notice, and the public has a right to know too, said Gene Policinski, executive director of the First Amendment Center, a free-speech education group in Nashville, Tenn., that is part of the Freedom Forum.
Besides giving speeches, signing bills and attending ribbon-cuttings, governors must take charge in natural disasters. They command their states’ National Guards. And their personal time can become the public’s business, particularly when they betray people’s trust, Policinski said.
Where’s the guv?
Associated Press reporters in 40 states contacted their governors’ offices to ask: What’s the governor doing right now? Most said the governor was in the office. Here are some responses:
Alaska: Gov. Sarah Palin was in Kosovo visiting U.S. troops. Her spokeswoman released the location after consulting the Department of Defense.
Arkansas: Gov. Mike Beebe was at the dentist.
California: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was meeting with lawmakers over the state budget plan.
Colorado: Gov. Bill Ritter was in the Capitol for a news conference on his plans to cut the state budget.
Florida: Gov. Charlie Crist was leaving a bill-signing ceremony in Oldsmar, Fla. His office released a line-by-line schedule for his day in the Tampa Bay area.
Georgia: Gov. Sonny Perdue had been in his office earlier, but spokesman Bert Brantley was unsure where he was when an AP reporter called. Brantley declined to call the governor to find out.
Iowa: Gov. Chet Culver was meeting with staff at his campaign office before taking the afternoon off to spend time with his children.
Maine: Gov. John Baldacci was leaving the governor’s mansion on his way to a county club driving range. His office released his calendar through today.
Maryland: Gov. Martin O’Malley was taking a day off at Cranberry Lake in New York state fishing with his 10-year-old son.
North Dakota: Gov. John Hoeven was in southeastern North Dakota talking to workers at a manufacturing plant slated to shut down this fall.
Utah: Gov. Jon Huntsman was on a plane to Washington.
