Schieffer Blasts Hutchison's Senate Vote Against Sotomayor

Both of Texas' U.S. Senators voted against Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer of Fort Worth blasted his potential opponent in the November 2010 governor's election, Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, for voting against Sotomayor.

Schieffer, in a press release shortly after the Senate's historic vote, called Hutchison's vote against the first Hispanic on the high court a "sad commentary on the bitter partisanship that grips our state and our country." Hutchison, he said, "turned her back" on Sotomayor's personal accomplishments and judicial resume "to court favor with some of the most strident voices in the Republican party.

"The only reason Sen. Hutchison voted against Judge Sotomayor was because Republican partisans demanded it," he said. "That is not how the system is supposed to work, and is not the way a conscientious public servant would act."

Schieffer is seeking his party's gubernatorial nomination in the 2010 Democratic primary race to run against the victor of the bruising Republican gubernatorial primary between Hutchison and incumbent Gov. Rick Perry.