AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas' Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has formally launched his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Campaign manager Jim Bognet tells The Associated Press that Dewhurst filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and sent a short video to about 500 supporters on Tuesday.
The move thrusts the millionaire businessman into a Republican primary that already has several candidates. All are vying for the seat held by Hutchison, a Republican who is not running for re-election in 2012.
Dewhurst is expected to spend some of his personal fortune on his campaign. The 65-year-old was elected lieutenant governor in 2002, holding the job that made him the presiding officer over the Republican-controlled state Senate.
Hutchison lost a gubernatorial bid to Gov. Rick Perry in 2010.
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