Texas' senior Sen. Kay Bailey Hutichson announced Wednesday she decided not to resign and will finish her third Senate term ending in 2012.
Hutchison was competing for the Republican nomination to run for Texas governor in the fall, she recently lost the primary to current Gov. Rick Perry. Hutchison previously announced she would retire in 2010 regardless of the outcome of the primary.
Speaking Wednesday she said she could not have anticipated the direction the country is now moving in and the situation has led her to look at her resignation "in a different way," reported CNN.
She originally hoped to return home to be closer to her children, but she said that the debt Congress is getting into right now changed her mind. "For the long term, for my children I think it is better that I stay and serve out my term."
AP reported that 20 Texas House Republicans signed a letter asking her to stay and commending her years of service. She was joined by Texas' junior Sen. John Cornyn and lead Senate Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for the announcement. McConnell said Republicans greatly value Hutchison's "leadership, intelligence, and effectiveness."
