The Texas primary takes shapes early
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and former Gov. Rick Perry may have home-state advantages in Texas, but the contest for Republican voters here is hardly settled, offering other candidates the opportunity to gain valuable ground in the next several months.
Cruz is leading the pack – with 20 percent – in the GOP primary among registered voters, according to a University of Texas at Austin/Texas Tribune poll released Monday. Behind the junior Texas senator is Perry, who has 12 percent, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the national leader in several recent polls, with 10 percent.
Among the other candidates, former Gov. Jeb Bush stands at 7 percent. As he swings thorough Texas this week for several fundraisers, Bush will be aiming directly at that home-field advantage of Perry and Cruz. And it’s evident that, for Perry at least, being on the offensive is very much part of his plan.
Over the weekend, the former Texas governor slammed Bush – both former executives who have made that experience centerpieces of their campaigns – on his connection to Texas, seemingly sending a warning shot to Bush if he thought he could win here.
“Jeb has to be careful about his criticism of bypassing Texas because the bulk of that, his brother was governor, and his brother’s probably not going to take very kindly to him saying ‘we kicked Texas’ butt,’” Perry told Breitbart. “But, you know, I’ll let him work that out with this brother.”
Bush has the support of at least one major statewide officeholder. House Speaker Joe Straus has endorsed Bush, citing their families’ long ties and Straus’ calculation that Bush has the best chance of retaking the White House for Republicans. Bush also is backed by former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
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