One Williamson County runoff race has erupted into a war of words between two candidates vying for the House District 52 Republican nomination.

Early voting for the April 13 runoff election kicked off Monday. The candidate who wins will face Democratic incumbent Diana Maldonado in November. The district represents the southeastern portion of Williamson County.

Voters in last month's primary narrowed the pool of four Republican candidates down to two, John Gordon and Larry Gonzales. Currently, the contenders stand neck and neck when it comes to raising money, and each feels that the other has subjected him to false campaign statements.

Gordon has put out ads and mailers about Gonzales, one saying Gonzales has accepted lots of special interest money from Houston developer Bob Perry. Another criticizes the candidate for requesting to be excluded from the Open Records Act, and says he has held "no apparent leadership roles" in the community.

According to Gonzales' campaign finance reports filed as recently as February, Perry and his wife had donated $90,000 to his campaign.

"That's a legitimate campaign issue. That's not a negative ad. I'm just asking why is the money being sent up [from Houston to Williamson County] to fund his campaign?" Gordon said.

Gonzales said Gordon’s point is moot.

"The relationship with Mr. Perry goes back a long time. We've worked together on tort reform for over 10 years. To try to imply something else is just not true," Gonzales said.

Gonzales recently released a campaign ad about Gordon's past. The spot calls Gordon a "ticking time bomb ready to explode" and focuses, in part, on a traffic stop last year, in which Gordon's wife was pulled over for failure to put on a turn signal. Gordon reportedly became verbally aggressive with a police officer during the stop, compelling the officer to call for additional assistance.

"We decided to tell people more about [Gordon's] personality and temperament," Gonzales said.

Gordon said Gonzales is exaggerating the situation.

"It's a shame that he's stooped to going after my wife on a traffic ticket. He's misconstruing traffic tickets," Gordon said.

The Texas 1836 PAC, a political action committee headed by Larry Massey of Houston, has also become involved in the jabs. The PAC created a Web site that includes video from the traffic stop.

The runoff election is scheduled for April 13. The candidate who wins will face Democratic incumbent Diana Maldonado in November.