CQ Today's Midday Update (free email service) reports that the GOP gubernatorial primary down in Texas is already beginning to heat up nearly two years before the actual contest.

The Fort Worth STAR-TELEGRAM reports that the gloves "are clearly off now in the Republican family feud between U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry. On abortion, transportation, fund raising and even internal polling tactics, both sides are increasingly taking public shots at each other as Perry prepares for a re-election campaign and Hutchison considers challenging him." The paper said it appears that "Hutchison will attempt to tag Perry as a failed leader who's too cozy with big contributors, and the governor will paint Hutchison as too liberal for conservative Republican primary voters."

[The full Star-Telegram article is here]

If Hutchison indeed ends up running for the Republican nomination for Governor of Texas, that could leave an opening for one of two recently deposed conservative Democratic Congressmen, Martin Frost and Charlie Stenholm, to have a shot at winning her Senate seat. Any Democrat would have an uphill battle in the state, but Frost and Stenholm, both being long-time members of the House whose seats were stolen by Tom DeLay (who is not necessarily popular throughout the state), could have a shot at making this seat more competitive than it otherwise could be. No matter how things play out, Texas will certainly be a state to watch in the upcoming cycle.