Perry Ahead in Money Race

Gov. Rick Perry has a small lead over U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the money race leading up to the March 2 Republican primary election, according to campaign finance reports released Tuesday.

The reports show that Perry raised more than twice that of Hutchison during the period, which covered the first three weeks of January.

But it was Democratic candidate, Bill White who was the top fundraiser. He raised more than $755,000 and had $6.4 million in the bank.

Perry had raised about $735,000 from Jan. 1 to Jan. 21 and had $10.4 million in the bank at the end of the reporting period.

During the same period, Hutchison raised almost $270,000 and had $10 million in the bank. The reports show that Hutchison's campaign is spending at almost twice the rate of Perry's.

Perry and Hutchison are locked in a heated battle to be the Republican nominee for governor.

Also running for the GOP nomination is Debra Medina, who ended the period with more than $68,000 in her campaign account.

In the Democratic primary, White faces Houston businessman Farouk Shami. Shami's totals were not immediately available.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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