SHARP ANNOUNCES RUN FOR U.S. SENATE

Former Texas Comptroller John Sharp announced today that he will seek the United States Senate seat currently held by U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Sharp, a nationally-known expert on energy and economic policy, said he would run whether the election for her post was held in 2012 or earlier–which is most likely as Hutchison is expected to vacate the seat as early as June.

“I will be a candidate whether the election is in 2012 or any time before then,” said Sharp, who received the highest percentage of votes statewide of any Democrat during the past decade.  “Texans face tough challenges that call for innovative solutions, and that’s what our campaign is all about.”

Sharp, 58, said he is forgoing the step of forming an exploratory committee and will file the required papers on January 1 so that he can begin raising money and campaigning across the state with the dawn of the new year.

As Texas Comptroller, Sharp earned a national reputation for innovative initiatives, including the Texas Performance Review, which saved taxpayers more than $8.5 billion, helped divert a proposed state income tax, safeguarded vital public services, and served as the model for Vice President Al Gore’s National Performance Review.

A native of the South Texas farming community of Placedo, Sharp graduated from Texas A&M University, where he was elected student body president and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves.  He earned his master’s in public administration from Texas State University in San Marcos while working fulltime as a fiscal analyst at the Legislative Budget Board in Austin.

As a Texas House member, Sharp served as vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and was named Outstanding Freshman by Texas Monthly magazine.  He later ran successfully for the Texas Senate and was appointed to the powerful Senate Finance Committee.  In 1985, he was elected statewide to the Texas Railroad Commission and served as the energy agency’s chairman.

Sharp worked for the Dallas-based financial management firm Ryan, Inc. after leaving the Comptroller’s Office and is currently helping the firm set up a charitable foundation.  He was co-founder and treasurer of Texans to Cure Cancer, the largest anti-cancer initiative ever launched in the state.  In 2006, with state lawmakers facing the prospect of shutting down public schools or advocating a state income tax, he led a bi-partisan committee to find a solution to avoid both — cutting overall taxes by more than $1 billion in the process.

Sharp and his wife Charlotte have two grown children and live in Austin, where they are active in their church and a variety of community programs and humanitarian efforts.