By Shelley Kofler, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-855479.mp3
La Marque, TX –
Governor Perry's campaign tried to upstage Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison as she launched her campaign for Governor Monday. Hutchison began her five-day statewide announcement in LaMarque where she attended high school. KERA's Shelley Kofler was in La Marque and reports the tour got off to a rough start.
For a hometown sendoff the crowd was very small. No more than 150 supporters gathered in the La Marque High School gym, only to hear the Hutchison campaign announcer mispronounce the town's name. He called La Marque, "La Mar-kee" three times.
Pete Rygaard is a former mayor of La Marque.
Rygaard: Someone working with Kay Bailey Hutchison's campaign whose from La Marque, Texas should know how to pronounce the word.
To add insult the Perry campaign parked a big truck with a life-sized billboard outside. It had an unflattering picture of Hutchison and a message that read: Kay Bailout Express, a reference to the Senator's voting for the federal stimulus package.
Perry's campaign spokeman Mark Miner strolled into the gym and sat down near the media.
Miner: She's not going to talk about her 16 years in Washington she's not going to talk about the increased spending the earmarks the bailout. We feel it's an obligation to talk to the people of Texas about those issues you are not going to hear today.
Among the issues Hutchison did talk about was Perry's record on taxes.
Hutchison: Just look at Governor Perry's new tax on business. It's been called a job killer.
In 2006 Perry pressed for legislation that expanded the business franchise tax and closed loopholes, but the Perry camp reminds that this year the Governor signed a bill that exempted 40,000 small businesses from that tax.
Hutchison continued to bash Perry's support for toll roads with long term contracts for private builders.
Hutchison: It is time to return to our tradition of free, quality highways and roads.
Perry's spokesman challenged her to find another way to pay for roads.
When asked about that Hutchison's campaign said, "This is an announcement tour. We'll be laying out the plan in the future."
The campaign explained the small send off by saying: "La Marque is a small town and it's the middle of the summer. We didn't expect a big crowd."
On Monday Hutchison also visited Houston, San Antonio and Austin. She'll end Tuesday's tour in Dallas