Earlier this week, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) announced her gubernatorial candidacy in Texas, along with a slight fundraising lead over her primary rival Gov. Rick Perry. One poll last week showed she still had a tough battle ahead in this intra-party fight. The poll had Perry at a 12 point advantage.
Rasmussen nearly echoes those numbers.
Incumbent Governor Rick Perry has jumped to a 10-point lead over Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in an early look at next year’s Republican Primary gubernatorial contest in Texas.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely GOP Primary voters in the state finds Perry ahead of Hutchison 46% to 36%. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and 14% remain undecided.
In early May, the two candidates were separated by just four points, with Perry ahead 42% to 38%.
Oddly enough, their favorables are nearly identical.
Seventy-six percent (76%) have a favorable opinion of the incumbent governor, with 27% very favorable. Just 23% view him unfavorably, including nine percent (9%) very unfavorable.
Hutchison is seen favorably by 72% of GOP primary voters, including 27% very favorable, and unfavorably by only 25%, with seven percent (7%) who have a very unfavorable opinion of her.
While Hutchison may not be doing well right now, there is no reason to think this won’t be an interesting race. Both candidates are incredibly popular. Hutchison will likely need to go negative soon to give herself a chance of overcoming her deficit.
#1 by Guy Smiley at July 16th, 2009
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Her miniscule cash lead was only because she transferred 8 million dollars from her federal account (left over from her 2006 race) and because she had 6 months to have events, send mail solicitations, and raise money online, while Perry only had 9 days.
She also spent far more than Rick Perry in the first 6 months of 2009, only to see her poll numbers crash. KBH is toast. The more people learn about her, the less they support her.