The Texas Tribune reports that Sen. Tommy Williams (R-Montgomery County), the Chairman of the Finance Committee, will be resigning from the State Senate some point soon to take a position with Texas A&M University, still to be announced. The position, rumored by the Tribune to be in government relations, will most likely not be to replace R. Bowen Loftin as President of the University.
The Houston Chronicle delves a little deeper into the story, noting that they could confirm he would not seek re-election 2014, though not confirming resignation before then. Since the Legislature is adjourned until that time, it makes little sense to resign mid-session.
Williams, for his part, is not all that surprising of a figure to leave the body. He was briefly mulling a run for Comptroller this year, which he ultimately decided against.
I don’t know of any chatter about who would be running for Tommy Williams’ Senate district, but I’m sure we will hear more about that over the next few days. For my part, this took me completely be surprise. Williams hasn’t really been one of the good guys recently, but a rudimentary lesson in Texas politics is, no matter how bad it is, it can always get worse.
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