Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been getting a lot more national press of late, but Texas Rep. Ron Paul is running ahead of Perry in early Republican presidential polls.

In a June 3-6 Reuters poll, Paul received 8 percent of the vote, while Perry garnered 5 percent. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who, like Perry, is not an announced candidate, was the leader in the Reuters survey with 19 percent. Paul, R-Lake Jackson, placed third; Perry finished tied for fifth.

Both Texans fared worse in a June 2-5 ABC News/Washington Post poll: Paul took 6 percent, Perry 3. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney led that poll with 21 percent.

Most recent presidential polls have not included Perry, who says he is mulling a presidential run and is making speeches in Los Angeles, New York and New Orleans this week.

But the RealClearPolitics.com average of polls places Perry ninth among GOP contenders with a 4 percent average. Paul ranks fifth at 7.1 percent behind polling leader Romney, Palin, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain.

Perry trails behind former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. The Texas governor leads two possible candidates: former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Utah Gov. John Huntsman.

Tonight’s debate, co-sponsored by Hearst TV station WMUR of Manchester, N.H., airs at 7 p.m. CDT.

Paul, a declared candidate, is participating in the debate. Perry is not.