This evening, Texas Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has announced that she will not run for re-election in 2010. She’s not leaving the political process, however, but intends to run for Governor of Texas, with her campaign starting this autumn.

Considering her candidacy, the people of Texas might want to consider the half-hearted approach Hutchison has taken to her leadership responsibilities as of late. This year, Hutchison has grown detached from the legislative process, allowing herself to drift away from the center of action in the Senate. She hasn’t offered many bills of substance. S.903, a bill to permit a State to elect to receive the State’s contributions to the Highway Trust Fund in lieu of its Federal-aid Highway program apportionment for the next fiscal year, and for other purposes, is typical of the small scope of her recent work. In spite of Hutchison’s modest ambitions in the Senate, much of her legislation hasn’t gained the support of a single cosponsor. There isn’t even any link on Senator Hutchison’s official congressional web site to the legislation she sponsored in the current session of Congress. Apparently, she’s simply lost interest in the process.

What legislation Hutchison has been working on seems headed in the wrong direction. There’s S. 166, for example, a bill which is designed to help employers evade compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

All in all, Hutchison has taken a low-energy approach toward moving the country backwards. Texas needs someone with more energy as its Governor, even if the position is largely ceremonial.