Hutchison leaves US Senate resignation date open

AUSTIN, Texas — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Tuesday some people are suggesting that she remain in the Senate as she challenges fellow Republican Rick Perry for governor, instead of resigning this fall as she said would.

Hutchison said on Dallas-Fort Worth radio station WBAP that she’s not sure whether she will resign from the Senate before the end of the year or even before the GOP primary in March, when she faces Perry, who is seeking a third full term. She said she wants to remain there long enough to fight President Barack Obama’s health care proposal.

“I want to stay and fight with every bone in my body against the government takeover of health care,” she said.

In July, Hutchison said she would leave the Senate in the “time frame” of October or November. She has never given a specific date.

Perry spokesman Mark Miner said Hutchison is putting her own political interests ahead of Texas by continuing to waffle on whether she will resign.

“Nobody really knows what the senator is trying to communicate, including her own campaign,” Miner said in a prepared statement, pointing out Hutchison’s statements since the summer about her resignation.

“I haven’t been able to set that deadline,” Hutchison said Tuesday, adding that she knows potential candidates who want to succeed her in the Senate are watching closely, but that she feels the health care debate is important. “I don’t feel that I have a choice,” she said on KRLD radio in Dallas.

Asked if she would remain in the Senate until early 2010, Hutchison said she couldn’t say. Asked whether she might not step down at all before the primary, she said, “A lot of people are suggesting that.”

Hutchison spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said the senator has consistently said she intends to fight the Democrats’ health care plan in the Senate.

Hutchison has been spending most weekdays in Washington, D.C., and carving out campaign time on Fridays through Mondays in Texas.

Hutchison has enjoyed general statewide popularity and has won elections by large margins. Perry has never lost a race and has enjoyed strong backing from the social conservatives who traditionally dominate the GOP primary. The winner of that race will be heavily favored in the general election.

If Hutchison does resign from the Senate — her six-year term ends in 2012 — the governor would set a special election to fill the seat. Several candidates from both major parties have already said they are running for the office.