Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison verbally took off the gloves Monday and quickly slapped her chief rival in the GOP gubernatorial primary, Gov. Rick Perry.
When asked if Hutchison was disappointed for not raising more money in the six-month reporting period, the senior U.S. senator from Texas said she exceeded her goal of $5 million.
Perry's campaign announced last week that it had stuffed its war chest with more than $4 million in new contributions -- all collected in a few days, because Texas law forbids the governor from collecting campaign money when lawmakers are in session.
When asked at a press conference Monday if she was disappointed with her amount, Hutchison snapped back: "$6.7 million in six months -- except for George W. Bush, no candidate in Texas has raised that much," she said. "I know that he (Perry) was getting commitments all during the session, cause I know where the meetings were."
The comment drew laughs from her supporters, but also attracted the ire of Perry's campaign spokesman, Mark Miner. Miner said Hutchison's statements hint that Perry broke the law when raising money -- and are wrong.
"It's false, and it's misleading," Miner said. "She's starting her campaign with a credibility problem now."
Rick Wiley, Hutchison's campaign manager, said Hutchison didn't say Perry broke the law.
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"She was pointing out the fact he was doing much of the same thing she was doing in this six-month reporting period, having political meetings and lining up commitments."
During her speech, Hutchison also took the Texas Department of Transportation to task.
"We have an arrogant Department of Transportation in Texas, and it's time for us to make a change. I will reform the TxDOT."
Hutchison didn't go into details on how she would change the state agency.
