Democrat White trails all three GOP candidates in Texas

Rasmussen Reports:

The two top hopefuls for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Texas remain out in front of their likeliest Democratic opponent, but now the Tea Party activist who is the third GOP contender is edging ahead as well.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely Texas voters finds incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry leading former Houston Mayor Bill White 48% to 39%. Five percent (5%) like some other candidate, and eight percent are undecided.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison still runs best against the Democrat, leading White by 13 points, 49% to 36%. Seven percent (7%) prefer another candidate, while another seven percent (7%) are not sure.
The findings for both these match-ups are little changed from mid-January.

The surprise, as in the new Rasmussen Reports survey of the GOP gubernatorial primary, is the growing strength of Debra Medina, a businesswoman active in the state's Tea Party movement. Medina now edges White 41% to 38%. Last month, White had a 44% to 38% lead on her. In this contest, six percent (6%) favor some other candidate, but a more sizable 16% are undecided.

Voters not affiliated with either major party prefer the Republicans in all three match-ups by double-digits.

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Perry's lead over Hutchison has grown a little bigger in the GOP Primary contest. Medina has seen her support grow from four percent (4%) in November to 12% in January to 16% now. She was invited to participate in a televised debate with Perry and Hutchison last Friday night based on the growing voter support shown in the previous Rasmussen Reports survey.

Texas is a challenging state for Democrats and the overall political climate adds more difficulties for White early in this election season.

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Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters in Texas say the government should cut government spending. Six percent (6%) favor an increase in spending, while 21% think a freeze on spending is the best way to go.
Sixty-six percent (66%) say cutting taxes is the best way to create new jobs. Just 12% think more government spending is a better job-creator, and 14% say neither will work.

But 62% like the three-year freeze on discretionary government spending proposed by the president. However, only 12% think it will result in a big reduction in the federal deficit. Eighty percent (80%) say it will have little or no impact on the deficit.

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There is much more.

White is running against an anti Democrat tide right now in a state that normally leans Republican anyway. It is not that he is running a bad campaign so much as he is carrying the baggage of what Democrats in Washington are doing, especially Obama.

At this point it appears that Perry should be favored in the primary and general election. This is really a remarkable achievement for a candidate who does not generate that much passion, but who makes a case based on the relative success of the Texas economy since he was elected. It is interesting and somewhat curious that Sen. Hutchison runs better in the general election than the primary.