Poll: Hutchison trailing Perry by 12

Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) is besting fellow Republican and gubernatorial candidate Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) by 12 points, according to a new poll.

Despite that advantage, Hutchison still fares better than Perry against a slew of Democratic candidates in hypothetical match-ups, the pollster also finds.

In the University of Texas/Texas Tribune measure, released Tuesday, Perry nabbed 42 percent of surveyed GOP voters, while Hutchison only had the support 30 percent. The lesser-known Debra Medina, however, picked up 7 percent of voters, leading pollsters to predict rather early on that she might be a spoiler in the Republican primary.

Overall, in the general election, the polling firm shows Republicans trouncing Democrats -- in every case by double digits. However, Hutchison performs better against her opposition's two front-runners -- Kinky Friedman and Tom Schieffer -- than Perry does.

Also concerning for Democrats: Neither of the party's foremost candidates breaks 25 percent in the poll. Worse yet, a generic ballot question reveals voters are more likely to choose a Republican than a Democrat at both the federal and state levels.