Fox News | No Author Listed

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Wednesday she will step down this fall to challenge fellow Republican Rick Perry for governor in 2010, setting the stage for what will be a crowded race to replace her.

Hutchison told WBAP radio of Fort Worth-Dallas in an interview that she’ll quit the Senate in October or November, signaling that she will return to Texas full time to campaign for the governorship as soon as this fall. She reiterated that she would formally declare her candidacy in August.

“Then the actual leaving of the Senate will be some time — October, November — that, in that time frame,” Hutchison said.

CQ Politics | No Author Listed

Texas Gov. Rick Perry holds a 38 percent to 26 percent lead over Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison with 27 percent undecided should she decide to challenge him in a Republican primary, according to a University of Texas-Austin Poll conducted June 11-12. The margin of error is 5.14 points.

On the Democratic side, the poll is not much help since 64 percent are undecided at this early stage. The only one of four candidates tested that broke double-digits was Kinky Friedman at 12 percent. The writer, singer, humorist and sometime politicians ran for governor as an independent in 2006 and placed fourth in the six-person race.