As part of his campaign swing through New York this week, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is courting crucial constituencies, including Hispanic and Jewish voters.

But on Monday he dined with the one constituent that could prove more influential than any religious or ethnic bloc this election: Rupert Murdoch.

The two men shared a meal at The Post House, a steak house just a few blocks from Mr. Murdoch’s Fifth Avenue apartment.

“The Governor met with Mr. Murdoch in New York City last night,” said Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for the campaign. “Governor Perry frequently visits with business, civic and elected leaders when he travels the country, in addition to events with grassroots activists and small business men and women.

Mr. Murdoch has ties to more than a few actual and potential members of the 2012 Republican presidential field. His Fox News Channel used to employ Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, and Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, both of whom are seeking the nomination. Fox still has Sarah Palin on contract, even as she flirts with a run for president but has not officially declared.

But Mr. Murdoch is not particularly close to Mr. Perry, who upended the Republican field with his entrance into the race last month. The two had dined once before in New York.

The meal was further evidence of Mr. Murdoch’s outsize status as Republican kingmaker. His News Corporation – owner of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, Fox News and local television stations across the country – donated $1 million last year to the Republican Governor’s Association (while Mr. Perry was chairman of the organization) and another $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which was heavily supportive of Republican causes in the midterm elections.

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by Mr. Perry in which the governor stressed the importance of strong U.S.-Israel relations and urged the American delegation at the United Nations gathering this week to oppose current efforts for Palestinian statehood.

The disclosure of both donations touched off a wave of criticism, mainly from Mr. Murdoch’s liberal detractors, that the 80-year-old media baron had become an unchecked force in American politics. Mr. Murdoch has faced similar criticism in Britain, where he owns several newspapers and a stake in a large satellite broadcaster, after it was disclosed that journalists working for his British newspaper division had bribed police officers and hacked into private voicemail in pursuit of stories.

A News Corporation spokesman would not comment on the dinner meeting.

The Post House, a clubby, old-world haven for red meat lovers that is renowned for its $49.50 beef Wellington, is a favorite spot of another media mogul: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who also lives in the neighborhood.