It's primary day in Texas

Republican and Democratic voters across Texas will pick their nominees for federal, state and local offices today, ending a primary election season that's seen everything from a historic intraparty fight for governor to a candidate who promises to quit halfway through his term if the economy falters.

The most watched contest will be U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's challenge to incumbent Rick Perry in the Republican race for governor. Wharton businesswoman Debra Medina, who has little money but caught the attention of many voters with the help of two televised debates, is also seeking the GOP nod.

A Perry victory would demonstrate that Texas Republicans are far angrier at the federal government than their state government , and it could cause other members of Congress from around the country some hesitation before running for state offices.

Perry has held a healthy lead in recent polls. If nobody gets more than 50 percent of the vote today, the top two finishers will head to an April runoff.

"I'm going to be the nominee at the end of the day," Perry said Monday. "It may be March 2. It may be April."

At several stops around the state Monday, Hutchison touted her work in the Senate to deliver federal dollars to military installations and universities in those towns. But Perry has effectively used those efforts against her, telling voters that Hutchison is part of a spend-happy culture in Washington that should keep its hands off Texas.

With national conservative commentators railing against the Obama administration night and day on the radio and cable television, Perry's anti-Washington message has had more wind at its back than Hutchison's warnings about the looming Texas budget shortfall.

"Vote tomorrow. I'm the conservative," Hutchison told a man in a downtown Houston food court as she handed him a campaign push card.

Hutchison hit six cities Monday, stressing that she wanted to better prepare Texas for the future. "We all agree Texas is great," she said at the Trianon coffee shop in West Lake Hills. "That doesn't mean we sit on the status quo."

Perry spoke to supporters in Houston, San Antonio and Dallas on Monday. He had to cancel a scheduled trip to Beaumont because of thunderstorms in Southeast Texas, but he addressed supporters there by phone.

"More governors need to stand up and say: You know what? We don't want Washington bureaucrats telling us how to educate our children; we don't want Washington bureaucrats telling us how to deliver health care," Perry said on the call.

Former Houston Mayor Bill White, the Democratic front-runner for governor, talked about lowering college tuition and electricity rates during a campaign stop at a Mexican restaurant in San Antonio. The election "has to be about Texas," White said.

He stayed focused on Perry and did not mention the six other candidates seeking the Democratic nomination.

That field includes Houston businessman Farouk Shami, who has poured millions of dollars into his campaign and has pledged to resign if the state does not add 100,000 jobs during his first two years in office.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today. Each primary is open to all registered voters, but residents may cast a ballot in only one primary .

If early voting in the state's big counties was any indication, turnout for today's election will be high. About 306,000 people voted early in the Republican primary this year in the state's 15 largest counties, more than doubling early vote turnout in those counties compared with the 2006 Republican primary for governor.

Early vote turnout in those counties' Democratic primaries was almost 185,000, a 53 percent increase from 2006.

In Democrat-friendly Travis County, early voting turnout was higher in the Republican than the Democratic primary, probably reflecting high interest in the Perry-Hutchison fight.

In other races on today's ballot, former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle will try to best labor leader Linda Chavez-Thompson and deli owner Marc Katz in the Democratic race for lieutenant governor.

Voters in Travis County will also decide among four contested Democratic district judge races, as well as a handful of other local races. Among the most competitive, 34-year-old lawyer Amy Clark Meachum faces appeals court Judge Jan Patterson, 61, for the 201st District Court.

In Travis County's Precinct 4, longtime Commissioner Margaret Gómez faces Raul Alvarez, a former Austin City Council member, for the Democratic nod. No Republican is running.

Voters across the state will pick legislative candidates. While a handful of Texas House members from each party are at risk of losing, a tidal wave of incumbent defeats today appears unlikely.

Republican voters will have a chance to choose a successor to retiring Rep. Dan Gattis, a Republican whose Williamson County-based district includes Georgetown, Cedar Park and Leander. Four Republicans are running. There is no Democratic candidate.

Tea party activists are trying to take out a number of incumbent Republican congressmen, but most, if not all, of those lawmakers are expected to survive.

jembry@statesman.com; 445-3572

cmaclaggan@statesman.com; 445-3548

Additional material from staff writer Kate Alexander.