Congressional Republicans Pressure Hutchison Not To Resign Unless Elected Governor While Her Allies Indicate She May Serve Out Her Entire Term If She Fails In Bid For State Office
By Vince Leibowitz on Dec 22, 2008 in 2009 Texas Elections, 2010 Texas Elections, 2012 Texas Elections, Featured ![[Post to Twitter]](/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-twitter.png){kind=icon}
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Fearful that a special election for U.S. Senate could result in a Democratic victory, Congressional Republicans appear to be pressuring U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison not to resign unless she is elected governor–while her own allies are increasingly indicating that she will follow that path and not resign at all if she is unsuccessful in her bid for state office.
Congressman Pete Sessions (R-Dallas) is one of the leading Congressmen pushing Hutchison to stay put:
Rep. Pete Sessions told me Friday that Kay Bailey Hutchison shouldn’t leave the Senate to run for governor.
Instead, Mr. Sessions said Ms. Hutchison should run for governor from her Senate seat. If she beats Rick Perry, she could then pick her replacement.
Mr. Sessions fears that a special election to fill Ms. Hutchison’s unexpired term would create an opportunity for a Democrat to win the seat.
[...]
“The people of Texas don’t need that kind of fight,” Mr. Sessions said of a special election.
He added that the popularity of Barack Obama would boost the chances of Democrats in a special election.
What’s more, it would cost candidates about $40 million or more.
Hutchison’s own former finance chair is now dropping the “other shoe” that most of us have been waiting for, hinting that Hutchison will stay in the senate through 2012 if she fails in her bid for state office (or, alternatively, aborts it like so many others):
Houston lawyer Pat Oxford, Hutchison’s finance chairman in past races, said even though there is a realistic possibility that a Senate election could be almost four years away, it makes sense for anyone who wants to run to jump in now — even not knowing whether Hutchison will resign.
“Once someone does it (announces for Senate), it’s kind of like the Cold War, you’ve got to escalate your plans so people don’t get committed to the first person who announces,” Oxford said.
Oxford said he believes Hutchison is weighing her effectiveness in the Senate against what it would take to win the governor’s race, as well as her own commitment of time and the “nuances of when a special election would be.”
In other words, she is waffling like a cheap cocktail napkin.
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Pete Sessions is a moron and needs to read the Texas Constitution (and as indicated by his vote for the bailout, the U.S. Constitution as well).
Article 16 Section 17 of the Texas Constitution provides that officers serve until their successors are qualified. This means she would be Senator until her replacement has taken the oath of office.
Article 16 Section 12 of the Texas Constitution provides that members of Congress are ineligible to hold any office of profit or trust in this State.
She couldn’t take the office of the Governor if a lame duck Perry didn’t appoint her successor.