Hutchison may leave U.S. Senate in 2009

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said she would like to be governor of Texas but has made no firms plans to run, the Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday.

Hutchison, 64, doesn't plan to seek re-election to the Senate in 2012 and may resign as early as 2009 to give "someone else a chance to start building seniority," she said in an interview with Texas Monthly.

Many political observers expect Hutchison to run for governor when Republican Gov. Rick Perry steps down, the Chronicle reported.

Hutchison, elected to the Senate in 1993 and re-elected to a third full term last year, said she was humbled by the number of people who say her leadership is needed in Texas but she has made no commitment to a governor's race in 2010.

"Would I like to do it? Yes," she said. "A lot of things have to happen to make it a reality. You can't plan that far ahead with certainty."