With Kay Bailey Hutchison indicating that she will pass on running for another term in the US Senate and might resign as early as next year, you can expect to hear a lot of speculation in the weeks and months ahead about who might make a bid for the open seat. One of the names being touted as a possible candidate is State Senator Florence Shapiro, who is reportedly considering setting up an exploratory committee. She hasn't confirmed anything, but her political consultant, Bryan Eppstein, says that she is considering a run and has been approached by Roger Staubach, who has offered his help if she throws her name in the ring. Other names being thrown around on the Republican side include David Dewhurst, TRC chairman Michael Williams, Secretary of State Roger Williams, and, incredibly, Rick Perry. Note to whoever thinks Governor Goodhair should run for the Senate: running for a different office doesn't make him any less of a douche nozzle.
Democrats should start thinking about who we might like to see on our side making a run for this Senate seat. I haven't heard any speculation about possible Democratic candidates yet, but if Bill White decides to forego a run for the governor's office, he would probably be high on the list. Of course, if he decides not to run for governor, there's no guarantee that he would be any more interested in running for the Senate. Ron Kirk would also probably be on the list, but he's already had an unsuccessful run for the Senate. If Rick Noriega doesn't defeat incumbent John Cornyn this time around, he might have more luck running for an open seat. Nick Lampson and Ciro Rodriguez could consider a run, and if they did, they would already have the advantage of established ties with the netroots from their previous campaigns. One thing is for certain: Texas is no longer a blue state, and with a strong candidate, we can pick up this seat. If Kay Bee decides to resign and a special election is held in 2010, whoever gets the Democratic nomination might be able to draw on the benefit of having a Democratic president, a Democratic majority in the Senate, and a Democratic senior Senator behind them, if everything goes as well as it could this fall; with any luck, they could have a strong gubernatorial candidate on the ballot with them as well. The demographics in this state will only continue to get better for Democrats with the passing of time, so an open seat in 2010 might be even more doable than John Cornyn's seat during this election cycle. We'll have to wait and see how this plays out, but I like our chances.
Recent Comments