Show-Stopping State Convention Speech Sparks Speculation on U.S. Senate Race

Saturday, June 13, 2008

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

Texas Republican Convention

The convention advertising by the two legislators will fuel speculation about them as potential contenders for the U.S. Senate in the next two years. But as more than 10,000 Republicans huddled Friday on the second day of their biennial gathering in Houston, one of the hottest rumors in the convention hall was that Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Michael Williams might be first in line for an appointment to the U.S. Senate before others would have a chance to run for it if there's an opening between now and 2010.

Speculation about Williams as a possible U.S. Senate appointee began to intensify in the wake of a high-powered state convention speech that he made Thursday on opening day of the event. While Governor Rick Perry has been the state convention's biggest star and most entertaining presence, Williams has been drawing rave reviews for a speech that Republicans at the event were still talking about the day after he delivered it.

Texas would have an opening in the U.S. Senate ahead of schedule if U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison decided to give up the seat she holds now before her term expires in 2012 so she could be a full-time candidate for governor. If Hutchison resigned her current post before the elections in two years, Perry would be able to appoint a temporary successor to take her place until Texas voters decided who would get the job in a special election.

Hutchison's name has been floated increasingly in recent weeks as a possible running mate for John McCain on the GOP's national ticket this year. While Hutchison has said she's not interested in the vice-president's slot, a special election for her current seat would be needed even sooner if she get such an offer and decided to take it.

The pool of potential Republican candidates for an open U.S. Senate seat includes Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, State Senator Dan Patrick of Houston and former Secretary of State Roger Williams along with Shapiro and Branch. Houston Mayor Bill White and former Comptroller John Sharp are the two Democrats most often mentioned as potential candidates for governor or U.S. Senate the next time those jobs are on the ballot here.

The Republican who Perry would tap if a U.S. Senate opening came up while he's still the governor would have the advantage of incumbency in a special election battle for the post. But that's no guarantee of victory - a fact that Hutchison demonstrated when she beat Democrat Bob Krueger in a special U.S. Senate election in 1993 the first time she ran for the post. Krueger had been appointed to the U.S. Senate by Ann Richards when she was governor to replace Lloyd Bentsen after he joined Bill Clinton's cabinet as treasury secretary. Hutchison led a first round field of 24 candidates when she received 99 more votes than Krueger out of more than two million cast. She ousted Krueger in a runoff with 67 percent of the vote.

If Hutchison resigned before the election two years from now, Perry would also have the option of appointing himself to the U.S. Senate before she had the opportunity to challenge him in a Republican primary election or after she beat him if he hadn't already picked someone else as her replacement.

Williams has the distinction of being the only African-American in the mix of potential U.S. Senate contenders so far on either side of the aisle. He's also been the only speaker at the state convention who's had anything positive to say about Barack Obama as the Democrats' presumptive presidential nominee.

"As an African-American from the South, I am proud of the fact that someone who looks like me will be a major party presidential nominee for the first time in our nation’s history," Williams said in his speech to delegates. "What Senator Obama has done is extraordinary. His nomination speaks well, not only of his own personal political skills, but of the America that exists today."

But Williams followed that by saying that Americans expect more than "identity politics" and slogans that lack substance - and he contended that the change that Democrats are seeking "is in your pocket."

Williams sparked roars from the audience through his speech - and at a time when Republicans are worried that voters might punish them for soaring gasoline prices - he tried to turn the tide by arguing that the price at the pump is a product of policies that the Democrats have pushed or opposed in Congress.