Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has shuttered his South Carolina campaign headquarters in the capital city of Columbia, his state chairman Katon Dawson confirmed Tuesday.
This comes almost a month after the Perry campaign announced that it would no longer be paying staff across the country.
Dawson attributes the move out of the building, which he provided for the Perry campaign in his retainer fee, to a “hot new client” that a realtor found for the space.
In the meantime, Dawson says the whole Perry team in South Carolina has relocated to his own office, Dawson Public Affairs. The chairman confirmed that he remains on a volunteer basis with the campaign, adding he hasn’t been paid for “20 to 30 days.”
“The Perry campaign was in the building for about 60 days, since the beginning of the summer,” Dawson said of the short lease that the campaign held on the space.
State Republican Party Chairman Matt Moore made headlines last week after telling the Charleston Post and Courier that “Rick Perry is on life support in South Carolina,” and expressed fear that the former Texas governor would not be able to pay the $40,000 filing fee to get on the state’s ballots.
Walter Whetsell of Starboard Communications, part of Perry’s political operative team in South Carolina, confirmed to CNN that he is still on a volunteer basis with the campaign, though he noted that his counterpart, Le Frye also of Starboard Communications, is back on payroll with the Perry presidential campaign.
As for upcoming public events for the former Texas governor, Dawson says the campaign is preparing for next week’s CNN debate and also for a presidential forum on Sept. 18 hosted by the South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.