AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison says she plans to resign from the Senate this fall to challenge fellow Republican Rick Perry for governor in 2010.
That disclosure’s drawing fire from Perry’s campaign. That also sets the stage for what will be a crowded race to replace her.
Hutchison told WBAP radio of Fort Worth-Dallas in an interview today that she’ll quit the Senate in October or November.
That signals her return to Texas full time to campaign for the March Republican primary for governor as soon as this fall. She repeated that she would formally declare her candidacy in August.
Perry campaign spokesman Mark Miner says Hutchison is breaking a promise by not remaining in the Senate for her full term, which expires in 2012. He accused the senior senator from Texas of putting “her own political ambitions over the needs of the people of Texas.”
But he says Perry is prepared for her challenge.