Kay Will Stay, Okay?

Hotline On-Call is reporting that Texas GOP Sen. Kay Bailiey Hutchinson will remain in the Senate through the end of her term in 2012.

The move is a reversal of a pledge Hutchison made to step down as she challenged Gov. Rick Perry (R) earlier this year. Hutchison lost an early March primary against Perry by a surprisingly wide margin.

Hutchison originally said she would step down sometime last fall, before putting off her resignation thanks to the health care debate. Now that the health care debate is over, House GOPers in TX have urged Hutchison to reconsider in a letter sent to the incumbent last week.

Hutchison's decision means several candidates who hoped to replace her will have to put their plans on hold until her term expires in '12. At least 6 prominent GOPers who anticipated Hutchison's resignation have been running for months.

It also means Dems won't have the chance to pick off a seat because of the state's runoff laws. Earlier this cycle, the party hoped to take advantage of the chaos created by a crowded GOP field; but as Hutchison's resignation looked less likely, ex-Houston Mayor Bill White (D) dropped his SEN bid to mount his own campaign against Perry.

We'll see in 2012 if that was the smart move for the GOP.  It could be that by 2012, Obama has turned things around more sharply and has coattails momentum and the Tea party movement could have run out of steam.   Of course, the opposite could be true, meaning Hutchinson would face a stiff primary challenge to her seat in two years...if she decides to run again at all.

Still, this means the GOP keeps 41 votes in the Senate, so on the surface, this is a good move for the elephants in the short term.