Rick Perry became governor in 2000 after George W. Bush was elected president. He won his first full term as governor in 2002, defeating Democrat Tony Sanchez, the first Hispanic to be nominated by a major party for Texas governor.

Perry was re-elected in 2006 to his second term by defeating democratic former U.S. Rep. Robert "Chris" Bell with a plurality of 39 percent of the vote.

Perry previously served in the Texas House of Representatives in 1984 as a Democrat. In 1990, after becoming a Republican, he was elected commissioner of agriculture, and in 1999, lieutenant governor.

(Last updated by Kelley Shannon on March 13, 2009.)

John Cornyn was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 with 55 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat Ron Kirk.

He easily defeated consultant Larry Kilgore in the 2008 Republican primary and went on to defeat Democrat Rick Noriega in the general election with 55 percent of the vote.

He was elected attorney general in 1998.

(Last updated by Suzanne Gamboa on March 23, 2009.)

Kay Bailey Hutchison said on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2008, that she will not seek re-election after her current term. She has formed what she calls an exploratory committee to run for Texas governor in 2010, though under Texas law that means she has formed a campaign committee to begin raising money for the state race.

Hutchison won a special election in 1993 to fill the balance of Sen. Lloyd Bentsen's term after President Clinton tapped him as treasury secretary. She trounced interim Democratic Sen. Bob Krueger by a 67 percent margin in the June 5 runoff.

She was re-elected to a full term in 1994, defeating Democrat Richard Fisher with 61 percent of the vote.

She was re-elected in 2000, defeating Democrat Gene Kelly with 65 percent of the vote. In 2006, Hutchison defeated Democrat Barbara Ann Radnofsky with 62 percent of the vote.

She won election to the Texas House of Representatives in 1972, where she served two terms. In 1976, President Gerald Ford appointed her vice chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, a post she served for two years.

She ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, losing to Republican Steve Bartlett. She was elected state treasurer in 1990 after the incumbent, Ann Richards, was elected governor.

(Last updated by Kelley Shannon on April 27, 2009.)