Texas: Hutchinson Concedes Primary To Perry

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison conceded the Republican nomination for Texas governor to Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday night following a heated, multimillion-dollar fight between the party heavyweights.
Hutchison told supporters in Dallas that she called Perry once she believed the election results were clear.

“We have fought valiantly for our principles, but we did not win,” she said.

Perry, Texas’ longest-serving governor, had 52 percent of the vote compared to Hutchinson’s 31 percent, with nearly half of precincts reporting. GOP party activist Debra Medina, a favorite among many tea party voters, had about 18 percent.

Perry, who’s seeking a third full term in office, spent months battering Hutchison with an anti-Washington message and accused her of being part of a big-spending crowd in the nation’s capital. Hutchison countered by saying Perry was trying to stay in office too long, and had allowed arrogance and cronyism to creep into state government.

All three candidates cast themselves as the true conservative. But the contest shaped up to become a bout between Perry and Hutchison in a clash unlike any GOP primary the state has seen since Republicans began taking over state government in the 1990s with the help of George W. Bush.

Ex-Houston Mayor Bill White defeated Houston hair care magnate Farouk Shami and five others on Tuesday to win the Democratic nomination for governor.

Perry, a darling of the social conservatives who reliably show up and vote in Texas Republican primaries, forcefully pushed the anti-Washington theme that Hutchison acknowledged worked against her in the current political environment.

Both Perry and Hutchison tried to show just how Texan they were: They donned cowboy hats and western wear during appearances, and declared their fierce devotion to the Lone Star State.
Hutchison initially said she would step down from the Senate by the end of 2009 and focus full time on her run for governor. But she later changed her mind and said she had to stay in Washington, D.C., to battle President Barack Obama and the Democrats on health care. Her continued presence in Washington gave Perry more ammunition to cast her as a congressional insider.

Medina appeared to be building steam in January and part of February, but may have suffered a setback when in response to a question from nationally syndicated radio talk show host Glenn Beck she said there were “some very good arguments” that the U.S. was involved in the 2001 attacks that took down the World Trade Center and killed some 3,000 people.

She later released a statement saying she didn’t believe the government played a role in the attacks. But some voters on the campaign trail at Hutchison and Perry events said they switched their support from Medina because of the remarks.
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