Lone Star

Perry, White Win TX Gov. Primaries

Popular Sen. Hutchison defeated in GOP race.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is a big step closer to holding on to his job, having defeated popular Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Republican primary. Perry won 51 percent of the vote to Hutchinson’s 31 percent, and pulled a big lead over Tea Party favorite Debra Medina. The two have been rivals for two decades, since he was elected agriculture commissioner and she state treasurer in 1990. Though Hutchison began her campaign 20 points ahead, Perry intensified his anti-federal government rhetoric—even talking about Texan secession—and recaptured the lead. Houston Mayor Bill White won the Democratic nomination. White was the clear favorite in that race after several opponents dropped out early (including Kinky Friedman); White’s toughest competition was in hair-care millionaire Farouk Shami, who dropped $8.5 million of his own cash into the race.