Gubernatorial dogfight looming

A horse race for Texas governor? Can it be that we actually might have a competitive contest for the state’s most visible elected office?

Let us hope.

The most recent polls show Republican Gov. Rick Perry and Democratic challenger Bill White in a virtual dead heat. White, the former Houston mayor, has closed what had been a double-digit lead to next to nothing.

What’s going on here? White has been pounding away over the governor’s pricey rental house, where he and his wife are living while crews repair the fire-damaged Governor’s Mansion across the street from the Capitol Building. White’s press releases refer to Perry routinely as a “career politician,” as in, “Career politician Rick Perry said … “

So, in a way White is hanging the label that Perry hung around the neck of his chief Republican primary rival, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Perry pounded Hutchison for being a “Washington insider” and whupped her soundly in the GOP primary.

So, now comes White — who presents himself as a mild-mannered policy wonk — to slip on the brass knucks and draw blood from the tough-as-a-boot incumbent.

The last truly competitive governor’s race was in 1990, when Democratic Treasurer Ann Richards beat West Texas oilman Claytie Williams in a race that Williams was supposed to win. So, two decades later, we’re in the middle of another potential donnybrook.

Bring it on, boys.