Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison kicks off her campaign for governor Monday in her hometown of La Marque. The U.S. senator is aiming to unseat Gov. Rick Perry, the state’s longest-serving governor.
LA MARQUE — Kay Bailey Hutchison, the senior U.S. senator from Texas, formally announced to about 150 supporters in her hometown Monday that she’s running for governor.
“I’m running for governor because I believe in Texas and I know we can do better,” Hutchison said.
With that, she entered into a race against Gov. Rick Perry, a fellow Republican who has held the office since 2000. Perry is the longest-serving governor in the state’s history.
With the La Marque High School band and cheerleaders as a backdrop, Hutchison was greeted by supporters, including classmates and old friends. She was joined by Karen Hughes, an aide to George W. Bush when he was governor and a counselor and diplomat during his presidential administration. Former Majority Leader Dick Armey and former Education Secretary Rod Paige are expected to join Hutchison’s campaign tour across the state this week.
It didn’t take long for Hutchison to come out swinging.
She said: “Let me start by saying this about Rick Perry: He’s a dedicated public servant. I know he loves Texas, but now he’s trying to stay too long.
“For any governor, eight years is enough. We can’t afford 14 years of one person appointing every state board, agency and commission. It invites patronage. It tempts cronyism.”
It wasn’t the first time Hutchison had pushed for term limits. In her first term in the Senate, she pledged to impose a term limit on herself of two full terms in office. It was a promise she broke in 2006 when she was re-elected to a third term.
Hutchison knocked Perry for his backing of the Trans-Texas Corridor, which she called a massive “land grab.” She pledged the proposal would be “dead and buried” if she is elected governor. She also called the Texas Department of Transportation the most arrogant state agency.
She criticized Perry for his support of the state’s new business tax, which she called a “job killer.”
Hutchison also chastised Perry for his refusal to accept federal stimulus money for unemployment benefits.
“To make a political point, we turned down half a billion in federal money, sacrificed it to other states and now we’re borrowing three times as much and sticking Texas businesses with the tab,” she said.
Perry’s campaign wasn’t without its own digs. Those attending the event, including Hutchison’s caravan, were greeted by a traveling sign parked in the front of the high school that read “Kay Bailout Express: Delivering record debt, pork and bailouts since 1993.”
The governor’s campaign spokesman, Mark Miner, handed out fliers designed to look like dollar bills that cast Hutchison as a Washington insider who was out of touch with her home state’s residents. Members of Perry’s camp also said the turnout for Hutchison’s campaign kickoff was small.
Hutchison staffers countered that the event was not meant to pack the gym and was one of 19 announcement rallies planned across the state. From La Marque, Hutchison traveled to Bellaire. She planned stops in San Antonio and Austin before heading to her mother’s hometown of Nacogdoches today. Campaign stops this week will include El Paso and Dallas.
Hutchison is expected to resign from her senate seat in October. Only two Texans — Sam Houston and Price Daniel — have made the leap from U.S. senator to governor.
Hutchison flirted with a gubernatorial run in 2005 but decided to stay in Washington, avoiding a primary that GOP leaders feared would leave the party badly divided.
GOP activist Debra Medina, of Wharton, has announced she also is seeking the nomination.
The only high-profile Democrat to announce is Fort Worth businessman Tom Schieffer.
