Kay Bailey Hutchison predicted a runoff in the Republican race for governor, telling voters Saturday that "we're going to start all over" and win.

STEWART F. HOUSE/Special Contributor

Rick Perry gives Loretta Eiben of San Marcos a hug at a luncheon in Mesquite, where he called Texas a 'sensible place that takes sensible approaches to issues like gun rights.'

While rival Rick Perry went into the last days of their battle hoping to win the GOP nomination outright on Tuesday, Hutchison promised voters the contest was far from over.

"I'm going to be in a runoff with Governor Perry," she said as she campaigned in the Houston area. "We're going to start all over, and we're going to win this race."

STEVE CAMPBELL/The Associated Press

Kay Bailey Hutchison, listening to the national anthem, rode in the Houston rodeo parade Saturday and later touted her efforts to bring federal money to Texas. 'What I've had to do is defend a successful record,' she said.

Perry appears to hold a commanding lead in the GOP race. To escape a runoff, he would need to win 50 percent of the vote against Hutchison and GOP activist Debra Medina. Speaking to members of the Texas State Rifle Association in Mesquite on Saturday afternoon, he aimed to close the deal.

"This week you have a responsibility to defend" Second Amendment rights, he said. "I hope I have earned the honor of your vote."

As Perry and Hutchison scoured for votes, their rhetoric continued to revolve around Washington, not Austin. Perry's momentum in the campaign has been propelled by steady criticism of Hutchison as part of a free-spending culture in Washington.

He didn't mention her by name Saturday, but he cast Texas' gun laws as a common-sense approach that eludes federal officials.

"Texas is just a sensible place to live. It's a sensible place that takes sensible approaches to issues like gun rights," he said. "We treat our citizens like adults in this state. Too bad Washington doesn't take that approach."

Hutchison touted her efforts to bring federal money to Texas and suggested that she has been a victim of her own success.

"What I've had to do is defend a successful record. That has been the challenge," she said. "His ads are trying to make it look like I'm Washington. But I'm Texas."

Hutchison opened the day riding on horseback in the Houston Rodeo parade, where thousands of people lined the route, waving flags and cheering the floats and marching bands."

She wore a brightly brocaded Western shirt with a gray windbreaker, and a pair of eel cowboy boots bearing the title "Senator." The boots were made by Rocky Carroll, the famed bootmaker whom the governor also favors.

"That's one thing Rick Perry and I agree on," Hutchison said.

As she traveled the parade route, an announcer introduced her over the loudspeaker: "She was one of the most beautiful at UT, and she hasn't lost a thing."

At a cafe stop in Sugar Land, supporter Linda Hancock said she had switched from Perry to Hutchison, partly because Hutchison was better at following through on promises – including winning federal funds.

"You talk about pork barrel," she said. "Things have come back to the state."

As she left, Hutchison stopped at one last table, where Joan Gandee gripped the senator's hand.

"You're a real person!" she said. "Not just on TV."

E-mail wslater@dallasnews.com and gjeffers@dallasnews.com

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