hi--
just caught this. Sen Kay Bailey looks very likely to challenge gop guv rick perry in 2006. what a hell of a nasty race ahead. let us hope we dems can get a pick up.
art
http://www.redstate.org/
Source: KBH Will Declare for Governor's Race
By: Augustine · Section: Breaking News
The following comes to RedState from a Texas political insider. Why KBH has made clear this choice is up for debate - it now appears that she has chosen to run for Governor of Texas against incumbent Republican Rick Perry.
According to a highly placed source in U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's camp, the Senator is likely to announce her intention to run for Governor of Texas on or about June 6th.
Speculation has been running wild in Austin and DC over the last several months about whether or not KBH will challenge incumbent Governor Rick Perry in the 2006 Republican primary. The rumor mill has reached a fever pitch as the State Legislature closes the bi-annual session today without accomplishing one of Perry's chief goals, reforming the school funding system in Texas. Because no deal was able to be struck this weekend between House and Senate negotiating teams, school finance fell through the cracks for this session. Many Texas observers speculate that this will give Senator Hutchison a political weakness to exploit.
But just how vulnerable could Governor Perry be? Although his statewide approval ratings are not the best, the race versus Hutchison will be among Republican primary voters, who are Perry's strongest and most fervent supporters. Many of them also dread having a divisive primary, something that a challenge by Senator Hutchison will surely create. The Dallas Morning News estimates that a Hutchison vs. Perry primary could cost more than $50 million in 2006, and set off a domino effect in the down ballot races like nothing the Republican Party in Texas has ever seen.
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