DALLAS — Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones became the latest candidate -- and the first woman -- to throw her hat in the ring Tuesday for the U.S. Senate seat that Kay Bailey Hutchison will leave in 2013.
Jones said she's the right person to send to Washington to teach Congress to handle its business as Texas does, by balancing the budget and creating jobs.
"Lord knows they need a little talking to," said Jones, R-San Antonio. "We are going to put a stop to the bloated, runaway centralized planning of Washington, D.C., and teach them what we have known so well in Texas."
Hutchison said this month that she will not seek re-election.
Since then, several officials have joined the race, including former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams of Fort Worth and former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz.
Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams has resigned his seat as of April 2 and is expected to formally enter the race soon. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, are among those expected to consider a bid.
Jones kicked off a four-day, 14-city campaign announcement tour Tuesday morning at the Dallas County Republican Party headquarters, saying that she stands out.
She said her husband and children will stay in Texas while she acts as a "strike force" to "get in, do or undo what I need to do -- and there's a lot of undoing that needs to be done -- and get out."
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