The Cook Political Report calls Bill White the strongest Democratic candidate since Ann Richards — possibly strong enough to oust Rick Perry.

The real gift to Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday wasn't the win over Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Debra Medina in the GOP primary, which was foretold in the polls. It was the quick win. A runoff would have gobbled six weeks and something like $10 million and might have left the winner bruised on the way into a battle with Democrat Bill White, who easily bested six others in his party's primary. So how does November look from here?

It seems like just yesterday — the gubernatorial race was overflowing with three GOP candidates and seven Democrats. But, it’s time to forget that bygone era — now, it’s all about Rick Perry v. Bill White.

Gov. Rick Perry and former Houston Mayor Bill White claimed their parties' gubernatorial nominations Tuesday night. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison conceded the GOP primary, congratulating Perry on his 11th consecutive statewide victory. White, meanwhile, had enough votes to call an early victory over Farouk Shami and five other Democrats, declaring, "We're gonna have some fun, and Texans are going to come together." Later, he sent a message about a conversation with Shami: "Just spoke to Farouk Shami. Very gracious. He'll help me. I do like his idea of building solar panel factories in Texas."