Are voters in Texas growing tired of the state’s longest serving governor?
We’re still six months out from the March 2010 Texas Primary, but the latest poll numbers show that Governor Rick Perry has lost his edge over U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.
A telephone poll conducted by Rasmussen puts Hutchison at 40% and Perry at 38% among likey Republican primary voters. Just a few months ago, the Governor held a commanding ten-point lead over Senator Hutchison, who says she plans to resign her seat in late October to run for Governor.
Perry is still a favorite of the most conservative members of the GOP, while Hutchison is preferred by those describing themselves as moderate, according to the poll.
This troubling news for the Perry campaign comes just as the governor is enlisting former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to help him campaign across Texas and raise money for his reelection.
During a trip to Houston earlier in the week, both Perry and Giulini attended a news conference at the Harris County Jail. Sheriff Adrian Garcia, a democrat, was noticeably absent from the photo op, but more than a dozen law enforcement officers from various agencies stood with Perry and Giuliani.
Perry blasted the federal government for what he called its failure to protect the Texas border with Mexico , and once again repeated his demand for Washington to send one thousand national guard troops to the border.
They held similar events in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.
After the news conference in Houston, the governor and former mayor attended a private fundraiser to help boost Perry’s campaign war chest, for what is expected to be a very expensive and tough primary battle.
