Perry holds double-digit lead in poll

AUSTIN (AP) - Appearing to defy the anti-incumbent mood gripping much of the country, Republican Gov. Rick Perry holds a double-digit lead over Democratic challenger Bill White in a new poll conducted for Texas newspapers.

Perry, seeking a third full term, leads White among likely voters, 49 percent to 37 percent. Green Party candidate Deb Shafto has 3 percent and Libertarian Kathie Glass has 2 percent in the poll. The rest were undecided or declined to answer.

The poll was done for The Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News, the Austin American-Statesman and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. It was conducted by Blum & Weprin Associates Inc. of New York and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

The poll results were appearing in Friday's newspapers.

Pollsters conducted the survey Oct. 22-27 and questioned 673 likely voters.

"The big story here is that Perry finally seems to have sealed the deal," said pollster Mickey Blum. White, the former mayor of Houston, is considered to be the Democrats' best hope in years of winning the governorship. He has criticized Perry's long record in office and claimed he's using state government to help his friends and contributors.

Perry has used an anti-Washington message to appeal to tea party voters and has stressed job creation during his tenure leading Texas.

Perry led White 46 percent to 39 percent in September. At that point, White had been advertising on television for several months, but Perry had just begun.

Since then, Perry has spent millions of dollars on TV ads promoting himself and attacking White. Perry has refused to debate White.

Blum said that Perry even entertaining the idea of secession, as he did last year, was a pitch-perfect response to the tenor of anti-Washington sentiment.

"Texas is voting for symbolic secession, choosing Texas over Washington," she said. "Bill White is not from D.C., but this is not about Bill White. ... I'm not sure it was ever about Bill White."

White spokeswoman Katy Bacon dismissed the results, saying White has always been the underdog in the race but will prevail.

"We'll see poll-apalooza leading up to Election Day, but people are voting and Texans are ready for a leader like Bill White. We have an enormous and effective field operation with thousands of volunteers getting out the vote," she said.

Perry spokesman Mark Miner said the governor remains focused on jobs and the economy. He's talking about "issues that matter to Texans, unlike Bill White who has based his whole campaign on criticizing without any new policies," Miner said.

Perry has a big lead among white voters. He is ahead in virtually every region and is doing better in his opponent's hometown of Houston. Regionally, White leads only in San Antonio and South Texas.

White's strongest showing is among traditional Democratic constituencies of blacks and Hispanics, lower-income Texans and those with postgraduate degrees.

The poll suggests White is attracting more independents than Perry.

"There just aren't enough of them," said Blum, adding that Texas' red-state status is more pronounced this year amid an angry, anti-spending wave that threatens to swamp Democrats nationally.

There is evidence some Texas voters may have grown tired of Perry, who first took office in December 2000, after George W. Bush was elected president. One out of five of those surveyed who said they voted for Perry in 2006, shifted their allegiance to White.

Asked about Texas' looming budget shortfall next year, those surveyed favored spending cuts, especially to higher education. Of the options for increasing revenue, most backed raising taxes on alcohol and authorizing new forms of gambling.

John Brown, 42, a small business owner in Plano and one of those surveyed, reflects the anxiety of voters who believe Washington has spent too much.

"I realize that Republicans don't have a great record on that in the last decade, but I do believe if anyone's more likely to rein in spending, it's going to be a Republican," said Brown, who supports Perry.

Joyce Horton, 61, a retired high school math teacher from Kingwood, is backing White because she thought he was a good mayor and was impressed with how he handled Hurricane Ike.

Lifelong San Antonio resident and retired salesman Rafael Soto, 66, remained undecided. He said he thinks Perry has been in office too long, but said he doesn't know much about White.