If U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison challenges Gov. Rick Perry in a bare-knuckle Republican primary, her new campaign manager will bring a valuable lesson from his last job: "Don't take a knife to a gunfight."

Terry Sullivan steered the winning side in last year's fractious U.S. Senate race in South Carolina, a state where hardball Republican strategist Lee Atwater got his start. Campaigns there can be "all-out brawls," Mr. Sullivan said.

Ms. Hutchison has not said whether she will seek re-election to the Senate or try to unseat Mr. Perry. But a flurry of Texas fund-raisers beginning this month and the formation of a battle-tested political team suggest she's preparing to take on the incumbent next year, analysts say.

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Mr. Sullivan said he is not deterred by the possibility of strong Perry support among the GOP grass roots.

"When was his last real primary on a high level?" he said. "It's one thing to go after a Democrat in Texas. But primary battles are very different than a general election. Personality has much more to do with it."

Mr. Sullivan's task would be to present Ms. Hutchison as a conservative – opposed to gambling, higher taxes and Mr. Perry's multi-billion toll-road project – and as a leader able to expand the party's appeal.

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