Kay Bailey Hutchison

Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey on July 22, 1943) was an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, and diplomat. She served as the 22nd U.S. permanent representatives to NATO from 2017 until 2021. As a member of the Republican Party, she was a United States senator from the state of Texas from 1993 to 2013.

Born in Galveston, Texas, Hutchison graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. Before entering politics, she worked as an attorney and legal correspondent at KPRC-TV in Houston. She began her political career in the Texas House of Representatives from 1972 to 1976 and later served as Texas State Treasurer.

Hutchison made history by becoming the first female senator in Texas when she was elected in a special election in 1993, defeating the Democratic incumbent Bob Krueger. She was re-elected three times and was the most senior female Republican senator by the end of her time in office in 2013. Later, she was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the United States Permanent Representative to NATO, beginning her role in August 2017 after being confirmed by the Senate. Her service ended with the inauguration of Joe Biden as President.

Early life

Kay Bailey Hutchison, born Kathryn Ann Bailey, grew up in La Marque, Texas. Her parents were Kathryn Ella and Allan Abner Bailey, Jr., and she had two brothers named Allan and Frank.

She studied at the University of Texas at Austin and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962 and her law degree in 1967. She was also part of the Pi Beta Phi Sorority.

Early career

After finishing law school, Kay Bailey Hutchison worked as a news reporter for KPRC-TV in Houston. She was one of the first women to appear on TV news in Texas.

In 1972, she was elected to the Texas House of Representatives from a part of Houston and served there until 1976. Later, she served as vice-chair of the National Transportation Safety Board from 1976 to 1978. In 1982, she tried to become a member of the United States House of Representatives for the area around Dallas, but she lost the election. After this, she worked in banking and business. In 1990, she was elected as the Texas State Treasurer.

In June 1993, her offices were searched by authorities. In September 1993, she faced charges related to her work, but she said she was not guilty and that the charges were for political reasons. In February 1994, a judge decided the case without presenting evidence, and she was found not guilty, ending any further legal actions on the same charges.

United States Senate

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Oil and Gas Caucus
• Congressional Internet Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus
• Senate Auto Caucus
• Sportsmen's Caucus

Elections

1993

Main article: 1993 United States Senate special election in Texas

Kay Bailey Hutchison became Texas State Treasurer in 1990 and served until June 1993. She then ran against Senator Bob Krueger in a special election to finish the last two years of Lloyd Bentsen's term. Bentsen had left in January 1993 to become Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton. Krueger had been appointed by Texas Governor Ann Richards to hold the seat until someone was elected.

Twenty-four candidates ran in the May 1993 special election. The top two were Hutchison (29 percent) and Krueger (29 percent). After the first vote, most supporters of the other candidates chose Hutchison, and she won the runoff with 67.3 percent of the vote. She became the first woman to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate.

1994

Main article: 1994 United States Senate election in Texas

In 1994, Hutchison ran for her first full six-year term. She won with 60.8 percent of the vote against Democrat Richard W. Fisher.

2000

Main article: 2000 United States Senate election in Texas

In 2000, Hutchison won again with 65 percent of the vote against Democrat Gene Kelly.

2006

Main article: 2006 United States Senate election in Texas

In 2006, Hutchison won re-election with 61.7 percent of the vote against former Houston attorney Barbara Ann Radnofsky.

Tenure and political positions

Hutchison served on several important Senate committees: Appropriations; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Rules and Administration; Veterans' Affairs. She strongly supported NASA.

From 2001 to 2007, Hutchison was Vice-Chairwoman of the Senate Republican Conference. In 2007, she became the Policy Chair for Senate Republicans.

In 2008, Hutchison was mentioned as a possible first female U.S. President. In 2011, she said she couldn't run for president in 2012 because of her children.

In 2009, Hutchison opposed a plan to delay a health-care bill, differing from some of her Republican colleagues.

Hutchison said in 2009 that she would leave the Senate to run for Texas Governor but later decided to stay until the end of her term.

Supporters of the Tea Party movement criticized her for not always agreeing with conservative views.

On January 13, 2011, Hutchison announced she would not run for re-election in 2012.

2010 gubernatorial election

Main article: 2010 Texas gubernatorial election

In August 2009, Kay Bailey Hutchison announced she was running to become the next governor of Texas. She wanted to be a different kind of leader compared to the current governor, Rick Perry. Even though she was leading in early polls, by the time the election came closer, Perry was doing better. She had support from important people like former President George H. W. Bush and baseball legend Nolan Ryan, but she did not win the election. Perry got more votes than she did.

United States Ambassador to NATO

On June 29, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Kay Bailey Hutchison to be the United States Permanent Representative to NATO. The U.S. Senate confirmed her, and she began her work on August 28 after being sworn in on August 15.

She held this important job until 2021. In 2018, she talked about NATO possibly taking strong actions if Russia kept working on certain weapons.

Honors

In 2013, the House of Representatives passed a bill to rename a part of the law as the Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA. This bill became an official law on July 25, 2013.

That same year, the Dallas Convention Center was renamed the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

Personal life

Kay Bailey Hutchison married her first husband, John Pierce Parks, in 1967, but they divorced two years later.

She later married Ray Hutchison in 1978. They adopted a son and a daughter in 2001. Ray served in the Texas House of Representatives and led the Texas Republican Party before he passed away in 2014. As of 2009, Kay and her family lived mainly in Dallas and she also had a home in Virginia while serving in the Senate. She is an Episcopalian and attends the Church of the Incarnation, part of The Episcopal Church.

Electoral history

Lloyd Bentsen left his job to become Secretary of the Treasury. In 1993, Kay Bailey Hutchison won a special election to finish the rest of his term.