I go to sporting events exclusively to please my boyfriend and eat snacks. Stadium hot dogs and chicken fingies and weird tacos are life's greatest pleasure and if you say otherwise in the comments you will be summarily written-off by me as a garbage person. In the past couple years, I'd say I spent somewhere around $150 on food in the few arenas and stadiums I frequent. Chris Christie spent $82,000.
According to New Jersey Watchdog, Christie used a debit card linked to his state allowance (he receives $95,000 of tax payer money every quarter to be "used for official receptions on behalf of the state, the operation of an official residence, for other expenses") 58 times in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, resulting in a bill of $82,594.
Let's break this down.
These numbers mean that Christie spent around $1,424 per game, but that's abstract. I'd much rather speculate about how much Christie could have eaten. Here are the numbers:
13,765 hot dogs from Boardwalk Fryer (at about $6 per dog)
8,259 Sloppy Joes from a Food Network stand (at $10 each)
16,518 cans of Busch ($5 per 12 oz can)
16,518 bacon-on-a-sticks (also $5)
So, did Chris Christie really eat over 13,000 hot dogs by himself? Evidence (that he is still alive) would indicate otherwise, but we just can't be too sure.
UPDATE: Chris Christie press secretary Kevin Roberts has reached out to Salon with the following statement:
Whenever the Governor hosts an event in his official capacity, the discretionary account is available to pay for those costs associated with official reception and hosting and related incidental expenses. The official nature and business purpose of the event remains the case regardless of whether the event is at the State House, Drumthwacket, or at a sporting venue. Nonetheless in early 2012, the Governor made the decision that costs associated with hosting at the sporting venues were better paid with non-state funds, and those expenses incurred during 2010 and 2011 were reimbursed by the NJGOP. This week, to ensure this remains the case in full, the NJGOP reimbursed the Treasury for an additional $3,367.22 to deal with an accounting anomaly.
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