2010: Rasmussen Reports Medina Gaining

The latest Rasmussen Reports internet poll shows incumbent Gov. Rick Perry holding a comfortable lead over his challengers in the GOP primary race for governor.  One of his challengers is gaining ground though, and it's not U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Political newcomer and GOP activist Debra Medina, who emerged as a poised presence at the first gubernatorial debate last Thursday, is up  to 12% support. That's a three-fold gain from her 4% showing in the same poll conducted last fall.

Likely voters responded with 43% for Perry, 33% for Kay Bailey Hutchison, and 12% support for Medina, with 11% undecided.

The 12% captured by Medina seemed to convince the next debate's organizers, at media company Belo, to include her in the January 29th debate. This comes after Medina supporters spent several hours today protesting for her inclusion and threatening a boycott of Belo advertisers.

Rasmussen's site has been having server issues throughout the day, so if you try to go and can't see the results you're looking for, below are a few answers and these are the full toplines. This survey was conducted January 17th among 831 likely Republican voters. The margin of error is +/-3.5 points, with a 95% confidence level.

Suppose the Republican Primary for the 2010 Governor’s race were held today.  Would you vote for Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison or Debra Medina?

              43% Perry
              33% Hutchison
              12% Medina
              11% Not sure

Should Kay Bailey Hutchison remain in her position as senator while she is running for Governor?

              65% Yes

              22% No

              13% Not sure