Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert Entering U.S. Senate Race?

It appears that Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert may be entering the race to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison in the United States Senate.

Via the Dallas Observer:

The speculation is that Leppert might consider running for Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat early next year should she decide at the end of this year to enter the Republican gubernatorial primary and should she also decide to resign from the Senate. (Hutchison wouldn’t be required by law to quit the Senate in order to run for governor, but everybody assumes she would.)

I spoke with Leppert’s City Hall chief of staff, Chris Heinbaugh, and his political consultant, Mary Woodlief, to tell them I was working on a story about a possible Senate run and to ask for comment from the mayor. The response was radio silence from Leppert—not even a no-comment, just silence, reminding us of his response when we asked for details about his plan for taking over the school system.

The speculation that he will run persists, however, based on the widely held belief that a special election to replace Hutchison would give Leppert a window that won’t be open again for another 15 years or more. In other words, it’s a chance he can’t afford to miss.

Leppert was a private businessman before getting elected mayor of Dallas the first time in a run-off in June 2007. Since then he has established himself as a formidable campaigner and political money-raiser but not so much as a Republican.

In addition to alienating some of the Republican base, Leppert would have other problems as a candidate. As a big-city mayor, he’s taken dozens–if not hundreds–of actions (like the city-owned convention center hotel) that would make Leppert an opposition researcher’s dream.

The last big city mayor in Texas to run for statewide office was former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk–and we all know how that turned out. Don’t expect Leppert to fair better (in fact, were he to run, expect him to fair far worse–as in not getting out of the starting gate).

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