DALLAS ― The three candidates running for the Republican nomination for governor are facing off in a televised debate Thursday evening.
For Kay Bailey Hutchison and Rick Perry, it's their first chance to fire at each other at point-blank range after launching charges at a distance for months.
For Debra Medina, the third candidate, it's the first opportunity to be widely seen.
Of course, the real battle here is between Perry and Hutchison, but with Medina to the right of both of them with her Libertarian and Tea Party support, there could be some surprises.
After 20 years holding statewide offices, Perry said he doesn't need to do much homework for the debate.
“The other folks in the debate may need to do that, but I've been living it and doing it for the last 10 years as lieutenant governor and governor,” Perry said.
Look for him to tout the Texas economy has done better during the recession because of his leadership, and that those values are much different from how Washington governs, where Hutchison has been a senator for 16 years.
Hutchison claims Perry actually wants voters to look toward Washington because of his lousy record as governor.
“Gov. Perry has raised taxes in this state, and property taxes have gone through the roof on his time,” Hutchison said.
Joining them is the lesser known challenger, Debra Medina, a favorite of Libertarians and Tea Partiers who would scrap property taxes to broaden the sales tax and ignore U.S. treaties with Mexico like NAFTA.
“Certainly the ideas that I'm going to champion there are very different from what Kay and Rick talk about,” Medina said.
It'll be interesting to see if Medina pushes the other two toward extremes they'd rather avoid. But the real contenders are Perry and Hutchison who'll be side-by-side for the first time, just as voters really tune in.
“I don't think most Texans are looking to Washington,” Perry said.
“People need to know what Gov. Perry's record is,” Hutchison said. “Gov. Perry talks a good game.”
After the debate, the money game begins. All three candidates have fundraisers scheduled in Denton.
The debate is sponsored by Dallas public TV station, KERA.
