Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey; July 22, 1943) is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, and diplomat who served as the 22nd U.S. permanent representative to NATO from 2017 until 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she was a United States senator from Texas from 1993 to 2013.
Born in Galveston, Texas, Hutchison is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to entering politics, she was an attorney and legal correspondent at KPRC-TV in Houston. She was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1972 to 1976. After a brief business career, she returned to politics in 1990, when she was elected Texas State Treasurer. In 1993, she was elected to the United States Senate in a non-partisan special election, defeating Democratic incumbent Bob Krueger and becoming the first female senator in Texas history.
After being re-elected to the Senate in 1994, 2000, and 2006, Hutchison was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Texas in 2010, losing the Republican primary to incumbent Rick Perry. Hutchison was the most senior female Republican senator by the end of her tenure in 2013, and the fifth most senior female senator overall. In 2013, she joined the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani.
On June 29, 2017, Hutchison was nominated by President Donald Trump to be the next United States Permanent Representative to NATO. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a voice vote on August 3, 2017. She started as ambassador on August 28, 2017. She resigned upon the inauguration of Joe Biden as President.
Hutchison was born Kathryn Ann Bailey in Galveston, the daughter of Kathryn Ella (née Sharp) and Allan Abner Bailey, Jr., an insurance agent. She has two brothers, Allan and Frank. Hutchison grew up in La Marque, Texas.
She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1962 (age 19). She was also a member of the Pi Beta Phi Sorority. She received her J.D. degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1967.
Following her graduation from law school, Hutchison was the legal and political correspondent for KPRC-TV in Houston. Hired by Ray Miller, host of the long-running The Eyes of Texas anthology series, Hutchison was among the first on-screen newswomen in Texas.
In 1972, Hutchison was elected to the Texas House of Representatives from a district in Houston. She served until 1976. She was vice-chair of the National Transportation Safety Board from 1976 to 1978. She was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 1982 for the Dallas-based 3rd District, but was defeated in the primary by Steve Bartlett. She temporarily left politics and became a bank executive and businesswoman. She was elected Texas State Treasurer in 1990.
1993 indictments and acquittal
On June 10, 1993, Travis County authorities, led by Democratic District Attorney Ronnie Earle, raided Hutchison's offices at the State Treasury. The search was conducted without a warrant, as incident to service of the indictments in the case. In September 1993, Hutchison was indicted by a Texas grand jury for official misconduct and records tampering. Hutchison stated that she was the innocent victim of a politically motivated prosecutor. Earle denied that his legal actions against Hutchison were politically motivated. The case against Hutchison was heard before State District Judge John Onion in February 1994. During pre-trial proceedings, the judge did not rule on the admissibility of evidence obtained on June 10. Absent such a ruling, Earle declined to proceed with his case. Onion swore in a jury and directed the jury to acquit Hutchison since Earle chose not to present evidence. The acquittal barred any future prosecution of Hutchison for the same alleged crime.
Congressional Oil and Gas Caucus
International Conservation Caucus
Hutchison was elected Texas State Treasurer in 1990 and served until June 1993 when she ran against Senator Bob Krueger in a special election to complete the last two years of Lloyd Bentsen's term. Bentsen had resigned in January 1993 to become Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton administration. Krueger had been appointed by Texas Governor Ann Richards to fill the seat until a replacement was elected.
A field of 24 candidates sought to fill Bentsen's unexpired term in the May 1993 special election. Candidates included incumbent U.S. Representatives Joe Barton and Jack Fields. The top two vote-getters were Hutchison (593,338, or 29 percent) and Krueger (593,239, also 29 percent).
During the campaign Krueger charged that Hutchison was a "country club Republican" and insensitive to the feelings of minorities. In January, the Houston Chronicle reported that both Hutchison and Fields had promised to serve a maximum of two six-year terms in the Senate as part of her support for term-limit legislation for members of Congress. In April, the Dallas Morning News reported that Hutchison had repeated her pledge to serve only two terms in the U.S. Senate, if elected, and had also said term limits ought to cover all senators, including Senator Phil Gramm (Republican), who had been elected in 1984 and re-elected in 1990. (He would stay in the Senate until 2002.) The term-limits legislation never passed, and Hutchison said that she would not leave the Senate in the absence of such legislation, because doing so unilaterally would hurt Texas at the expense of other states in the seniority-driven institution.
After the initial voting, most of the Barton and Fields voters switched to Hutchison, who won the run-off, 1,188,716 (67.3 percent) to 576,538 (32.7 percent). Lower turnout in the run-off resulted in a decrease in Krueger's vote total, by 17,000. Hutchison became the first woman to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate.
Running in 1994 for election to her first full term, Hutchison received 2,604,281 votes (60.8 percent) to 1,639,615 votes (38.3 percent) cast for Democrat Richard W. Fisher, the son-in-law of the late Republican Congressman James M. Collins, who had also run in the 1993 special election.
In 2000, Hutchison defeated Democrat Gene Kelly, with 4,082,091 (65 percent) to 2,030,315 (32.2 percent). She carried 237 of the 254 counties, including one of the most Democratic counties, Webb County (Laredo).