ONE OF THE WORLD’S best-known publishers of pornography has offered a $1m ‘reward’ to anyone who can provide proof of an “illicit sexual liaison” with one of the frontrunners in the US presidential election campaign.

Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine, has put up the bounty for anyone who can prove an affair with Rick Perry, the Republican governor of Texas who is considered the main contender for the party’s nomination in the 2012 election.

The payday has been advertised in the Austin Chronicle, a liberal-leaning paper in the Texan state capital, as well as in the satirical newspaper The Onion.

“I’ve been doing this for 35 years,” Flynt told Reuters. “We’ve found running these ads were very successful in finding sources to come forward.”

Flynt has routinely run such advertisements in efforts to smear public officials or politicians he opposes.

The efforts bore fruit in 1999 when Louisiana congressman Robert Livingston quit his role, just weeks before he was due to who was take over the role of Speaker of the House.

Flynt claimed to have uncovered evidence of an extramarital affair through a similar advertising campaign. That campaign had targeted high-ranking members of the Republican Party, who were seeking to impeach President Bill Clinton at the time.

The porn magnate told said his office had heard several rumours about Perry’s sex life, but declined to elaborate.

A spokesperson for Perry told the Houston Chronicle that the governor did not intend “to weight in on this garbage”.

A Gallup poll published last week showed Perry with a 7-point lead over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, in a poll that included eight potential candidates.