Senate rivals battle over who’s more conservative

• DANNY ROBBINS/Associated PressWILL WEISSERT/Associated Press
• Originally published June 15, 2012 at 2:35 p.m., updated June 15, 2012 at 3:40 p.m.

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) – The two Texans embroiled in a white-hot battle for the state’s Republican U.S. Senate nomination each addressed the same GOP women’s group Friday and claimed they were more conservative than their opponent.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and former state Solicitor General Ted Cruz sat at tables separated only by a raised podium, but were careful not to cross paths before and after their dueling speeches in Kerrville, about 60 miles northwest of San Antonio.

The pair is vying for the GOP nomination to replace retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. They face a runoff July 31 after neither got a majority of the votes cast in a crowded Republican field during last months’ primary – even though Dewhurst bested Cruz by about 10 percentage points.

The winner of the runoff looks sure to prevail in November’s general election.

Serving as powerful lieutenant governor since 2003, Dewhurst is the establishment Republican favorite. But the younger and more fiery Cuban-American Cruz is backed by tea party groups.

The race took a turn for the nasty at last week’s Texas Republican Convention, when delegates booed Gov. Rick Perry, himself a conservative darling, for endorsing Dewhurst.

Speaking to about 200 members of the Kerr County Republican Women’s Club in a hotel conference room, Dewhurst said, “I’m the only proven conservative in this race. I’m the only one who’s done all the things my opponent is talking about.”

He championed his work overseeing the Texas Senate, which on his watch approved a series of tax cuts, as well as laws requiring women to undergo a sonogram before having an abortion and voters to show ID at the polls.

“If you like Texas, that’s what I’ve done for the last nine years,” Dewhurst said. “You’ll love the job I’ll do for you in Washington.”

When he said President Barack Obama had trampled on the U.S. Constitution, that drew a cry of “Amen!” But Dewhurst also noted, “I’m even madder at the Republicans who had a chance before Obama to pull America

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