Hutchison mum on challenge to Perry

The day after the historic presidential election, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison was mum on her future plans.

For months, she has campaigned for fellow Republicans and delayed any announcement of whether she’d make a bid to become Texas’ governor in 2010 — potentially setting up a partisan primary battle between her and GOP Gov. Rick Perry — after Tuesday’s election. On Wednesday, her staff had little to say.

"Sen. Hutchison believes Texans deserve a little break from campaigning," spokesman Matt Mackowiak said. "There will be plenty of time to talk about 2010."

The silence of Texas’ senior senator drew some questions from political observers.

"She’s the most popular Republican politician in Texas," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "I think her best strategy is to act like that and say, 'I don’t care what Perry does. I’m going to run for governor of Texas.’ "

But an Austin political observer said it might bode well for Hutchison to review Tuesday night’s election results and see how Democrats are making strides, not just into the White House, but into jobs in Texas ranging from Wendy Davis’ win of the District 10 state Senate race in Tarrant County to Harris County voters putting a number of Democrats into countywide seats.

"She has to look at how poorly Republicans performed at the top of the ticket," said Harvey Kronberg, editor of the Quorum Report. "There’s no sense in her jumping into anything until they know the lay of the land."

If Hutchison steps down to run for governor, that sets up a spirited race for the Senate seat she holds until 2012, a job in which more than a dozen people have expressed interest. Among them:

Former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams of Weatherford. He said he’s looking at his options and will make an announcement at the right time. "I love public service and I want to keep serving," he said. "We’ll see how it plays out in the real near future."

Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams of Arlington. His campaign spokesman Corbin Casteel said a key lesson was learned Tuesday night, when Williams won re-election to the Railroad Commission. "We learned  . . . that the people of Texas want people who work for Texas. The people they elect, they want them to do the job," Casteel said. "They’re sick of politics and campaigning right now. It’s time for Chairman Williams to get back to work. There will be plenty of time for campaigning later."

Texas Sen. Florence Shapiro of Plano. She has created an exploratory committee to look at her options of running.

Others who have been mentioned as contenders for Hutchison’s Senate seat, should it open up, include GOP U.S. Reps. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, and Joe Barton, R-Arlington, and Democrats Houston Mayor Bill White and former state Comptroller John Sharp.