Money, money, money
Many Dollars Bill: White boasts $9 million left for the governor's race, RickPerry has $5.9 million
Rick Perry has the (tax-payer-funded) multi-million dollar mansion in the hills, but Bill White knows how to be frugal with his campaign millions.
While Perry — an incumbent with 10 years in Texas' top office — has raised $20 million overall in this election cycle, compared to White's $16.6 million, now that the race is heading into its critical final four months, White has more campaign cash left. The Democrat challenger reports that he has $9 million of his $16.6 million remaining, while Perry has $5.9 million of his $20 million remaining.
With a late June survey by Public Policy Polling surprising calling the race between White and Perry a dead heat and a Rasmussen Reports poll released today reporting that Perry only holds a 50-41 percent edge, the extra late spending power could be a boon to White's chances of pulling an upset. Perry's contentious primary battle with Kay Bailey Hutchison depleted some of his funds, putting the Republican incumbent at something of a money disadvantage.
Perry has been outspent in prior elections and still cruised to victory however.
Both Perry and White released their campaign war chest data in dueling news releases today.