Perry Wins By Knockout

Rick Perry handily won the Republican primary for Texas Governor last night over Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson and will go on to face Democrat Bill White.

Hutchison called Perry to concede the race after returns indicated that the governor was cruising toward a resounding victory in the closely-watched primary.

"Now we must unite," she said. "We must win Texas for Republicans."

Perry's win ended a yearlong intra-party fight that was billed from the start as a clash of Texas political titans but ended with a whimper as Hutchison struggled to fight a tide of anti-Washington sentiment among conservatives.
The governor cast his victory as a warning shot to Washington in the mold of recent GOP wins in the Virginia and New Jersey governor's races and the Massachusetts special Senate election.

"I think the message is pretty clear," Perry told supporters at his election night party near Austin. "Conservatism has never been stronger than it is today."

Perry won the primary outright by getting more than 50% of the vote, so there's no worry about him being Hoffmaned. Having said that, the Lone Star State's voting demographic continues to become more Hispanic.  Perry is favored in a year where most incumbents are not, but there's a lot in Perry's record in his lurch to the far right over the last year that Bill White can attack.

We'll see.