You don’t get to be the Governor of Texas for 14 years without owing some favors on the back end. Wearing custom suits and cowboy boots while hobnobbing with billionaires rich from being born on the right dirt comes at a price. Come shoot an exotic zebra on my ranch in South Texas and drink all the Johnny Walker Blue you can handle. Remember me when you see those hippies chained to trees in Austin calling for your head.
Civil service used to be a thankless, noble calling primarily for people who couldn’t hack it in the private sector.