Hutchison Leads Perry in Primary Poll; Gov. Perry Strong Against Others

[Freddie Stubbs]

12/7/2004 7:01:00 AM


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To: Metro Desk, Political Reporter

Contact: Jeff Montgomery of Montgomery and Associates, 512-478-0002

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Texas Republican primary voters favor U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison for Texas Governor over incumbent Governor Rick Perry by a margin of almost two to one, according to a recent poll. Governor Rick Perry did well against other potential primary opponents, however.

Since the summer of 2001, Montgomery and Associates, an independent research firm based in Austin, Texas, has been running surveys tracking statewide political issues and elected officials. This survey was conducted from November 16 - December 2, 2004 and tested 1,035 Texas residents over the age of 18. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percent. This survey was a random sample of adult Texas residents matching state demographics. Montgomery & Associates is conducting the survey independently, and has not been paid by any candidate or party. In partisan political races, the firm works for Democratic candidates.

In the poll, the 478 respondents who said that they vote in the Republican primary at least some of the time were asked how they would vote in hypothetical gubernatorial primaries featuring Gov. Perry against three different opponents. (Note that for this Republican primary voter subset, the margin of error is 4.5 percent.)

When Gov. Perry was matched against Sen. Hutchison, 59.5 percent said they would vote for Hutchison, compared to 31.6 percent who said they would support Gov. Perry.

more: http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=40409

[Bucky]

1. Since we won't be getting any Democratic governors any time soon...

...I guess it's better to have a marginally less mean Republican running the state. Not that the governor actually does anything.

[crispini]

3. I like that.

Vote Kay Bailey: Marginally Less Mean!

[ronnykmarshall]

2. When is your gov election?

Talk about two peas in a pod.

[crispini]

4. 06, IIRC.

[PDittie]

7. They put the "goober" in gubernatorial n/t

[ChicanoPwr]

5. I heard Houston's Mayor Bill White might run

I a resident of Houston, he has done a great job so far and this is his first term. Bill White was also chair of the states Democratic Party.

[PDittie]

6. He's probably the Dem's best hope

for Governor, Senator, whatever...

He plays it real non-partisan (or bipartisan if you prefer) and he's really too conservative and big-business for my taste, but he's also probably the most electable Democrat in Texas at the moment. He's conservative enough to draw votes from the GOP-riddled suburbs around the state; and he's shown up at some of the Harris county Dem functions I've attended. He's also won the support of a lot of different liberal factions: unions, minorities, gays.

He's got the money, and he can raise funds quickly.

I'd be surprised if he runs for any position in '06 besides the one he's got, though. He plotted a mayoral race for years before doing so, and then ran TV commercials more than a year in advance of the 2002 election to build his name recognition.

He's somewhat plodding and methodical in his approach, as befits a wealthy conservative CEO-type. If he were going to run for statewide office in 2006 we'd already know about it.

He could be a worthy challenger to that Christian Taliban/moron Cornyn in 2008.