DALLAS — The accolades have been pouring in since Republican U.S. Representative Kay Granger announced she would not seek re-election for another term.
And this week on Inside Texas Politics, one female political icon gave her thoughts on the other.
Former U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison says she’s disappointed Granger decided to leave after dedicating her life to public service.
But Hutchison understands that Granger’s role as chair of the House Committee on Appropriations is one of the toughest, and most time consuming, jobs in all of Washington right now.
“You have to work 24/7 to try to get everybody’s views to put into a place where you can then negotiate, and negotiate with the Senate. So, I think she decided to just put all in for that responsibility and not have to also then campaign for re-election at the same time,” Hutchison told us on Inside Texas Politics. “And I respect and admire her. And we will all want to wish her well as she leaves a great, great life of public service.”
The two women are legends in Texas politics.
Granger is the first Republican woman to represent Texas in the U.S. House -- first elected in Texas’ 12th congressional district in 1997.
Before that, she was the first female mayor of Fort Worth.
For her part, Hutchison was the first female U.S. Senator in Texas history, first taking office four years before Granger.
The downtown Dallas convention center is even named after her.
Hutchison is also the former U.S. Ambassador to NATO.
News organizations from across the globe still call on Hutchison’s political expertise to make sense of the world.
And when it comes to the violent Israel-Hamas war, Hutchison claims the Palestinian people have long had a corrupt and incompetent government that has caused the turmoil to continue.
But she also argues that a two-state solution is the ultimate answer for long term peace in the region.
And the Republican says Saudi Arabia is the key to that.
“I think Saudi can play a key role if they will step up and be supportive of the two-state solution, working with Israel and then making sure that the other Arab countries that want to have a normalization and a regularization, which is most of them, to put that coalition together to support a new government in the Palestinian territory that would become their home state,” said the former NATO Ambassador.
Hutchison also says our country’s continued support of Ukraine is critical to keeping American troops out of harm’s way in that region because otherwise, Russian President Vladimir Putin will continue his aggression, which raises the risk of it turning against a NATO ally.
And she didn’t hesitate when asked what she thinks about the idea of reducing funding to Ukraine.
“That is a huge mistake and it’s not looking at the big picture,” she said.
Never too far from domestic politics, and with Super Tuesday now only four months away, Hutchison told us she hopes she can support a Republican.
“I think that we have good candidates. I think it’s time to have new candidates. I don’t think Trump or Biden should be the nominees for President of the United States. I hope we have new choices,” the former U.S. Senator said.