SAN ANGELO, Texas — The political paths of three former student leaders from Texas’ two main public universities have crisscrossed for years. All three have been on the political radar since all were on the same statewide ballot in 1990.
Now, two face off March 2 for the Republican nomination for governor: U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is trying to unseat Gov. Rick Perry.
The third, Democratic former state Comptroller John Sharp, wants Hutchison’s Senate seat — whenever it might be up for election. Her seat is scheduled election in 2012, but she could resign sooner, which would cause a special election.
Two of the trio are Aggies: Sharp, a former student body president, and Perry a former yell leader.
Hutchison is what Aggies would call a Teasip. She was a cheerleader at The University of Texas at Austin.
Each has held elective office for at least two decades: Sharp, 20 years; Hutchison, almost 23; and Perry, almost 25.
All three were members of the Texas House of Representatives, though none at the same time.
Hutchison, 66, was elected from Houston in 1972. She left the House in 1976 to become vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Sharp, 59, was elected to the House from Victoria in 1978. He served two terms, and then won a special election after the death of Sen. John Wilson of LaGrange. In 1986, Sharp was elected to the Texas Railroad Commission — the first of the three to win statewide office.
Perry, also 59, was elected to the House in 1984 as a Democrat, from Haskell. In 1989, Perry switched to the Republican Party to challenge populist Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower.
The 1990 election was the first time all were on the same statewide ballot. Perry upset Hightower. Sharp was elected comptroller. Hutchison was elected treasurer, a job later abolished.
In 1993, Hutchison won a special election to replace Democratic U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, whom President Bill Clinton had appointed treasury secretary.
Hutchison had run after then-Gov. Ann Richards named fellow Democrat Bob Krueger to serve until the special election.
Richards had offered Sharp the appointment. Had he accepted, there might never have been a Senator Hutchison. But Sharp didn’t, and Hutchison beat Krueger in a runoff by a 2-1 ratio.
The other time all three were on the same ballot was 1994. Each was re-elected: Sharp as comptroller, Perry as agriculture commissioner, and Hutchison to the Senate.
Perry has never lost an election, though he won the GOP nomination for agriculture commissioner in 1990 in a runoff.
Hutchison has lost once — a primary election runoff for a Dallas congressional seat in 1982, to Steve Bartlett.
Sharp has lost twice — in 1998, to Perry, for the open lieutenant governor’s job, and in 2002, again for the open lieutenant governor’s job, to Republican David Dewhurst.
Although the 1998 Perry-Sharp faceoff was the only time any of the three have run against each other, Hutchison considered challenging Perry both in 2002 and 2006.
In 2002, Hutchison would not have had to give up her Senate seat to run, because she would be two years into a six-year term. Perry had become governor not by election but by succeeding George W. Bush after he was elected president. Nervous about Hutchison, Perry spent much of his first legislative session as governor in 2001 flying around the state, trying to become better known.
Hutchison was tempted, but in mid-March 2001 said she wouldn’t run. She said “preoccupation” over her political plans had become “a serious distraction to the proper performance” of her senatorial duties and “should end.”
Again in 2005, she explored running for governor. But unlike 2002, Hutchison’s Senate seat was up for election in 2006; if she ran for governor, it would be goodbye to the Senate. Powerful Republican donors asked her not to put them through an expensive and divisive battle between two of the party’s stars, when she could run in 2010 when Perry retired.
The senator said in late July 2005 that she would seek re-election, and she and Perry both kept their jobs in 2006.
But Perry didn’t retire. He declared in April 2008 that he’d run in 2010. Hutchison, tired of waiting, kicked off her governor campaign in August 2009.
Soon we’ll find out where the paths of these politicos go — whether Hutchison or Perry or both still hold elective office in 2011, and whether Sharp gets his Senate shot before 2012.
Dave McNeely is a longtime Texas political columnist. Contact him at davemcneely111@gmail.com.
