She's the senior U.S. senator from Texas, the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from the Lone Star State and now, she's the underdog.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said she is confident she will win the GOP gubernatorial primary against incumbent Gov. Rick Perry.
"I'll go toe-to-toe with the governor in speaking, but I'm substantive, and I'm going to attack the issues that are important to Texas, and I'm going to build the Republican Party, and I'm going to do it with a smile and not a slash-and-burn mentality," she said.
Hutchison's supporters say she sometimes doesn't seem "charged" up during her speeches. When asked about this, Hutchison said she is passionate about the campaign, but not in a way that is always visible.
"I don't flap my arms, I don't make wild statements, I don't talk about secession, I will not embarrass Texas nationally," she said, taking a jab at Perry. "I'll go toe-to-toe with the governor in speaking, but I'm substantive, and I'm going to attack the issues that are important to Texas."
Although Perry and Hutchison are both Republicans, they have different views on how the state should be run.
Perry said he supports electronic surveillance of the border, as well as sending small teams of Texas Rangers and Texas National Guard members to patrol the border.
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Hutchison said she's in favor of adding more border patrols and DEA agents to patrol the border, but not electronic surveillance.
"Electronics, the cameras, are not working, and really, it's throwing money down a rathole," she said."
When asked if she'd support a border wall, Hutchison said, "It can be effective."
Hutchison also has taken issue with Perry taking credit for Texas' ability to weather the economic storm that has depleted other states' coffers.
Hutchison admitted that Texas is doing better than other states in the slow economy.
"The reason we are doing better is that we are a right-to-work state, and we don't have a state income tax, and Gov. Perry had nothing to do with that," Hutchison said when asked why voters should change leadership in Austin if Texas is doing better than other states.
NBCDFW.com also invited Rick Perry for an interview, but the governor has not yet responded to the request.
