Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams told The Associated Press he’s planning to resign from his current position April 2 to enter the 2012 race for the U.S. Senate.
Williams started his career in the Commission in 1998 when he was appointed by then-Governor George W. Bush. His biography also introduces him as “the first African American in Texas history to hold an executive statewide elected post.”
As Kay Bailey Hutchison is expected to retire in 2012, the vacant seat for the U.S. Senate will become available. But winning the Republican primary for the Senate seat may not be a cakewalk for Williams because well-known contenders in Texas have already thrown their hats into this ring.
Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones and the former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz have decided to run for the Republican nomination, and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is also considering his candidacy.
“It will be a crowded field. It will be an opportunity for a very, very vibrant discussion of very, very important issues,” Williams said, during an interview with The Texas Tribune.