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Did Rick Perry double spending in 10 years?

National

By W. Gardner Selby September 15, 2011

A group favoring U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota for president posted an ad online this month suggesting Gov. Rick Perry, the leading hopeful for the Republican presidential nomination, isn’t a fiscal conservative.

In the spot, targeted at South Carolina voters, the narrator says Perry "doubled state spending in a decade."

PolitiFact Texas checked the numbers and found the claim was a bit of a stretch.

See Truth-O-Meter item.

stated on August 21, 2018 in an interview on Spectrum Cable's "Capital Tonight":

Says U.S. Rep. John Carter "hasn’t held a town hall in five years."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on July 26, 2018 in an ad in the Houston Defender:

Says "black Americans have 10 times less wealth than white Americans."

mostly-true

mostly-true

Silvestre Reyes

stated on May 22, 2012 in a TV ad:

Says Beto O’Rourke "has a criminal record that includes DWI and burglary arrests."

true

true

stated on October 25, 2018 in a TV ad:

Says Ken Paxton "shut down the world’s largest human trafficking marketplace."

barely-true

barely-true

stated on October 22, 2018 in a rally for Republican candidates in Houston:

Says Beto O’Rourke "voted to shield MS-13 gang members from deportation."

barely-true

barely-true

stated on October 16, 2018 in a debate televised from San Antonio:

Says "only one other senator from either party over the last 25 years" has "a worse record on bipartisanship" than Ted Cruz.

true

true

Alexander Strenger

stated on October 1, 2018 in response cited in an interactive voter guide:

Says 60 percent of Austin’s "waterways are found to be contaminated with fecal matter and deemed unsafe to swim."

half-true

half-true

stated on September 29, 2018 in an Austin rally:

Says that in Texas, "you can be too gay to adopt" a foster child "who needs a loving home."

half-true

half-true

stated on September 21, 2018 in a debate at Southern Methodist University:

Says Beto O’Rourke described police as "modern-day Jim Crow."

barely-true

barely-true

stated on September 21, 2018 in a debate at Southern Methodist University:

Says he "did not try to leave the scene of the accident" that led to his arrest for driving while intoxicated.

barely-true

barely-true

stated on September 12, 2018 in a TV ad:

Says Beto O’Rourke voted "against body armor for Texas sheriffs patrolling the border."

false

false

stated on August 26, 2018 in an interview on Fox & Friends:

Says Texas has "had over 600,000 crimes committed by illegals since 2011. Over 1,200 homicides."

pants-fire

pants-fire

stated on August 30, 2018 in a TV ad:

Says Texas "high school graduation rates are at all-time highs."

true

true

stated on September 4, 2018 in a video:

Says Beto O’Rourke said he’s grateful that people are burning or desecrating the American flag.

false

false

stated on August 28, 2018 in an online video ad:

Says Beto O’Rourke "voted against" Hurricane Harvey "tax relief."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on August 21, 2018 in an interview on Spectrum Cable's "Capital Tonight":

Says U.S. Rep. John Carter "hasn’t held a town hall in five years."

mostly-true

mostly-true

stated on July 26, 2018 in an ad in the Houston Defender:

Says "black Americans have 10 times less wealth than white Americans."

mostly-true

mostly-true

Silvestre Reyes

stated on May 22, 2012 in a TV ad:

Says Beto O’Rourke "has a criminal record that includes DWI and burglary arrests."

true

true

stated on October 25, 2018 in a TV ad:

Says Ken Paxton "shut down the world’s largest human trafficking marketplace."

barely-true

barely-true

stated on October 22, 2018 in a rally for Republican candidates in Houston:

Says Beto O’Rourke "voted to shield MS-13 gang members from deportation."

barely-true

barely-true

stated on October 16, 2018 in a debate televised from San Antonio:

Says "only one other senator from either party over the last 25 years" has "a worse record on bipartisanship" than Ted Cruz.

true

true

X posts
stated on July 8, 2025 in an X post:

Former Gov. Roy Cooper is scheduled to speak at a Winston-Salem coffee shop July 18 at 11 a.m. about the “future of North Carolina.”

By Will Doran • July 10, 2025
Donald Trump
stated on July 8, 2025 in a Cabinet meeting:

China doesn’t “have a lot of wind farms. … Very, very few.”

By Louis Jacobson • July 10, 2025
Ron DeSantis
stated on June 27, 2025 in a press briefing:

There is “zero impact” from Alligator Alcatraz on the Florida Everglades.

By Gabrielle Lazor • July 10, 2025
Wisconsin Senate Democratic Committee
stated on June 27, 2025 in Social media:

“Senator Hutton is in the most flippable Senate seat in Wisconsin.”

By Hope Karnopp • July 10, 2025
Jon Favreau
stated on July 8, 2025 in Pod Save America:

“ICE will now become the country’s largest federal law enforcement agency, bigger than the FBI, bigger than the DEA.”

By Amy Sherman • July 10, 2025
Scott Jennings
stated on July 1, 2025 in an episode of CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip:

Almost 5 million able-bodied Medicaid recipients “simply choose not to work” and “spend six hours a day socializing and watching television.”

By Loreben Tuquero • July 9, 2025
Kevin Hassett
stated on July 6, 2025 in an interview with CBS News' "Face the Nation":

According to Congressional Budget Office estimates of people who stand to lose insurance from enactment of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending legislation, “about 5 million … have other insurance,” so “if they lose one (type of coverage), they're still insured.”

By Louis Jacobson • July 9, 2025
Social Media
stated on July 6, 2025 in a TikTok video:

The Trump administration “has defunded not only the National Weather Service but also what’s known as NOAA.”

By Louis Jacobson • July 8, 2025
Hakeem Jeffries
stated on July 2, 2025 in a House floor speech:

President Donald Trump’s tax law has “tax breaks for billionaires, permanent; tax breaks for everybody else, expire.”

By Louis Jacobson • July 8, 2025
Social Media
stated on July 5, 2025 in posts on social media:

The Rainmaker Technology Corp.’s cloud seeding caused the July 4 flooding in Texas.

By Madison Czopek • July 7, 2025

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