Kay Bailey Hutchison

Kathryn Ann (Kay) Bailey Hutchison served in the United States Senate for Texas from 1993 to 2013, making her the first—and, to date, the only—woman elected to represent the state in the Senate.

Hutchison was born born in Galveston, Texas, on July 22, 1943. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1962 and the University of Texas School of Law in 1967. Because law firms hired few women at that time, she began her professional career as a Houston television reporter covering state politics.

In 1972, Hutchison was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, serving two terms. She then served four years as vice-chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, then spent eight years as a banking executive and owner of a candy manufacturing company. In 1990, she was elected Texas state treasurer. In 1990, she was elected in a special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat of Lloyd Bentsen, who resigned to serve as U.S. Treasury secretary.

After leaving the Senate, Hutchison joined a law firm as senior counsel. She has authored or co-authored four books, including "Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate" (2000), "American Heroines: The Spirited Women Who Shaped Our Country" (2004), "Leading Ladies: American Trailblazers" (2007), and "Unflinching Courage: Pioneering Women Who Shaped Texas" (2013).

For information on Hutchison's policy subject areas, committee appointments and sponsored/co-sponsored legislation during her time in the U.S. Senate, please visit her profile on https://www.congress.gov.

Source:

United States House of Representatives (n.d.). Hutchison, Kathryn Ann Bailey (Kay). Retrieved on May 6, 2020, from https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/H/HUTCHISON,-Kathryn-Ann-Bailey-(Kay)-(H001016)/.