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 became the first female senator in Texas when she was elected in 1993. She was re-elected three times. Later, she was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the United States Permanent Representative to NATO, starting in August 2017. Her service ended with the inauguration of Joe Biden as President.

Early life

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

She went to the University of Texas at Austin and got a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962. She finished her law degree in 1967. She was a member 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 1993, she faced some charges related to her work, but she said she was not guilty and that the charges were for political reasons. Later, a judge decided the case 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 was Texas State Treasurer from 1990 to 1993. She then ran for the Senate in a special election to finish the last two years of Lloyd Bentsen's term. Bentsen had left in 1993 to become Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton. Senator Bob Krueger was holding the seat until someone was elected.

Twenty-four people ran in the May 1993 election. Hutchison and Krueger were the top two. After the first vote, many supporters of the other candidates chose Hutchison, and she won with most of the votes. 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 against Democrat Richard W. Fisher.

2000

Main article: 2000 United States Senate election in Texas

In 2000, Hutchison won again against Democrat Gene Kelly.

2006

Main article: 2006 United States Senate election in Texas

In 2006, Hutchison won re-election 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, people talked about Hutchison possibly becoming the 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.

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 sometimes disagreed with her 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 said she wanted to be the next governor of Texas. She wanted to be a different kind of leader than the current governor, Rick Perry. At first, she was ahead in the polls, but as the election got closer, Perry did better. She had support from important people like former President George H. W. Bush and baseball legend Nolan Ryan, but she did not win. Perry got more votes than she did.

United States Ambassador to NATO

In 2017, President Donald Trump chose Kay Bailey Hutchison to be the United States Permanent Representative to NATO. The U.S. Senate agreed, and she started her job in August after taking an oath on August 15.

She worked in this role until 2021. In 2018, she spoke about NATO making strong moves if Russia kept developing some weapons.

Honors

In 2013, a bill was passed to rename a part of the law the Kay Bailey Hutchison Spousal IRA. This became 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. 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. He passed away in 2014. As of 2009, Kay and her family lived mainly in Dallas. 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.