Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) has announced that this will be her final term as a US senator, and she may even exit early, if she decides to run for governor of her state in 2010. If she were to win that race, she would be able as governor to appoint a successor to finish off her term, which will be voted on by citizens in November 2012. Hutchison is a member of the influential Senate Commerce Committee. On broadcast issues, she is one of the group of Republicans who have occasionally cast their support for anti-consolidation measures such as the Byron Dorgan (D-ND)/Trent Lott (R-MS) repudiation of the FCC’s 2003 ownership rulemaking.
