The cat’s out of the bag downstate, with reporting today in the Houston Chronicle that Wales Madden Jr. is crossing the partisan divide to support Democrat Bill White’s candidacy for Texas governor.

Madden is a longtime Republican stalwart who supported Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s gubernatorial bid in the GOP primary. Hutchison lost and now Madden is backing White, a mountain-climbing pal who has worked with Madden on nuclear issues relating to the Pantex arms assembly and storage plant in Carson County.

Madden has been a longtime lawyer and businessman in Amarillo. He’s a big hitter in this part of the state and he joins a number of other Republicans who are crossing over to support White’s challenge of GOP incumbent Gov. Rick Perry.

The question of the day, though, is this: Will this support among the movers and shakers translate to actual votes among Republicans in November?

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7059718.html