Rasmussen... Rick 50, Bill White 41....

Rick inches back upward in Rasmussen polling, up from 48 - 40 last month (link). Excerpt follows...

Republican incumbent Rick Perry holds a modest lead over Democratic challenger Bill White again this month in his bid for an unprecedented third term as governor of Texas.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Lone Star State shows Perry with 50% support. White, a former mayor of Houston, picks up 41% of the vote. Two percent (2%) like another candidate in the race, and seven percent (7%) are undecided.

In mid-June, Perry held a 48% to 40% lead over White.

In match-ups since February, Perry’s support has remained in the tight range of 47% to 51%. White has earned 38% to 44% of the vote in that same period. The two men ran closest in April when Perry held a narrow four-point lead, 48% to 44%.

White faces a tough race in a state that trends conservative Republican. Perry has been highly critical of the federal government, increasingly so over the last couple of years, and what he views as its intrusion on states’ rights. This is likely to play well in a state where voters are more strongly critical than voters nationally of the new health care bill and the Obama administration’s legal challenge of Arizona’s immigration law.

Texas is challenging the health care law in court and has joined eight other states in a legal brief in defense of the Arizona immigration law.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of Texas voters now approve of the job Perry is doing as governor, while 44% disapprove. These findings have remained steady for several months now.

Rick also just came out in favor of Greg Abbott's amicus brief supporting Arizona's right to protect its citizens... something that may get some of Rick's base off his case...