Washington ( CNN ) -- Texas is still grappling with an Ebola scare , and Gov . Rick Perry -- faced with a test of his leadership ahead of a possible 2016 presidential bid -- is in Europe . In the lead-up to an election that will determine his successor , the three-term Republican governor left this week for a pre-scheduled economic development trip that will include stops in England , Germany , Poland and Ukraine . His trip comes after a Dallas nurse became the second person diagnosed with Ebola in the state , and as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitors dozens more doctors and nurses who treated the first patient , Thomas Eric Duncan , who died last week . Perry 's absence has raised eyebrows : Texas Democrats pounced on Perry , saying the episode is characteristic of a governor they 've long accused of being too focused on his own political fortunes . Obama steps ( cautiously ) back into campaign mode . Perry is `` an irresponsible leader who 's not paying attention to Texans , '' said Will Hailer , the Texas Democratic Party 's executive director . He said departing for a trip just months before Perry 's term ends and he departs the governor 's office is `` Aspiring Politics 101 . '' `` An economic development trip two months before the end of your term , in between jet-setting to Iowa , New Hampshire and South Carolina , clearly shows that this is a development trip for Perry , '' Heiler said . Read more - Rick Perry in London : You always sound so smart . Though he struggled in a 2012 campaign for the GOP presidential nomination , Perry is widely expected to run again in 2016 . The state 's response to the Ebola outbreak could be his last high-profile act in the governor 's office and potentially shape national perceptions about his capabilities as an executive . Perry 's office defended the timing of his trip , saying he 's still engaged in the Ebola response and is using the European trip to talk with officials overseas about the global response to the outbreak in Africa . `` State , local and federal officials continue to manage the response to Dallas ' Ebola cases , and the infectious disease task force that Gov . Perry created to review the state 's preparedness and response efforts will conduct its first public hearing this month , '' Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said Monday . `` Earlier today , Gov . Perry and Chancellor George Osborne discussed the global repercussions of the Ebola crisis in West Africa , and the governor offered to share what we 've learned in Texas with the United Kingdom , which is also preparing for the possibility of an Ebola case , '' she said . Perry has been publicly involved in the Ebola response . He opposed banning travel between the United States and West Africa and has praised the CDC 's involvement in efforts to prevent the disease from spreading .
Texas Gov . Rick Perry left this week for an economic development trip to Europe . Comment: Democrats criticized Perry for leaving the state while the Ebola threat exists .