Senator Hutchison, the first woman to represent Texas in the Senate, said she had wanted to retire since 2009 but had stayed to combat the Obama administration’s policies.
Hutchison first won her seat in a 1993 special election. She ran for Texas governor in 2010, but was trounced by incumbent Gov. Rick Perry in the Republican primary. Pundits speculate that Hutchison’s loss indicates that Texas is likely to elect a more conservative senator than Hutchison, who leaned moderate on some social issues.
