Kay Hutchison won't run, after all

June 17, 2005, 8:02PM

Hutchison won't run for Texas governor
Associated Press
RESOURCES
NAME — Kay Bailey Hutchison

PARTY — Republican

AGE — 61, Born in Galveston, Texas on July 22, 1943.

EDUCATION — Received bachelor's and law degrees from University of Texas at Austin.

JOB EXPERIENCE — Hutchison worked as a television reporter for KPRC in Houston. She then went into banking in Dallas and later owned and operated a Dallas candy manufacturing company.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE — Elected to Texas House of Representatives in 1972, where she served two terms. In 1976, President Gerald Ford appointed her vice chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, a post she held for two years. She ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982. She was elected state treasurer in 1990 after the incumbent, Ann Richards, was elected governor. She was elected in a 1993 special election to replace Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, who was named Treasury Secretary, in a field of 24 candidates. She was re-elected to full terms in 1994 and 2000.

FAMILY — Married to Dallas bond lawyer, Ray Hutchison. They have two children together, and he has two grown children from a previous marriage.

WEB SITE: http://www.hutchison.senate.gov

AUSTIN — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison announced today that she will run for a third Senate term, ending months of speculation that she would challenge Texas Gov. Rick Perry for the Republican nomination in 2006.

An e-mail distributed by Hutchison's campaign said she would make the formal announcement on June 27, when she would provide details on her decision and "why she believes it is in the best interest of Texas."

Hutchison had long been considered a likely challenger to Perry, who is seeking his second full term. He became governor in 2000, after George W. Bush resigned to become president. He was elected to a full four-year term in 2002.

"Senator Hutchison has been a true champion for Texas in Washington, D.C., fighting for the interests of our state," Perry said. "Her decision to seek reelection is great news for Texas, and will help grow our Republican majority with her strong presence at the top of our ticket."

Perry may yet draw a challenger. State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn has scheduled a public rally at the Capitol Saturday, when she's expected to announce her campaign for governor.

Strayhorn spokesman Mark Sanders said the comptroller respects Hutchison's work and her decision.

Hutchison spoke at two events earlier in the day in suburban Dallas, and only would say she was near a decision.

When asked about the prospects of a nasty three-way GOP primary campaign, she said: "Everyone says it would be a terrible race. I certainly am not dissuaded by the scare tactics that are being put out that, 'Oh well, we don't want a terrible race.'"

Perry, a proven rough-and-tumble campaigner who has never lost an election, had urged Hutchison to stay in the Senate, saying a brutal GOP primary in March was "not good for Texans."

Bill Miller, a Republican consultant, said Hutchison may have her eye on a spot on the national GOP ticket in 2008, when Bush's second term expires.

"The next presidential cycle, in all likelihood, the Republican ticket will include a woman and Kay is perfectly positioned to be that person. To run for governor against an incumbent who has never lost an election is a big roll of the dice," Miller said. "Why roll the dice? I think she said, 'It's just not worth the risk.'"

The wait for her decision had created much anticipation among Republicans. The GOP currently holds every statewide elected office a Hutchison run for governor was expected to create a shakeup in the Capitol as Republicans jockeyed for new offices.

Hutchison won her second full term in the Senate in 2000 by carrying 65 percent of the vote, and a recent poll put her approval rating at 67 percent. The Scripps Howard Texas Poll had her beating Perry on job performance among Republicans and independents.