State Sen. Kyle Janek to resign

This was not unexpected.

Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, who moved his family to Austin several months ago, will announce Tuesday that he is resigning from the Senate in mid-term on March 10.

There has been speculation for several months that Janek, an anesthesiologist, wouldn't complete his current four-year term, and it increased when he enrolled his young sons in an Austin school last fall.

Janek wouldn't confirm his plans, other than to say will have a news conference at the Capitol on Tuesday.

I had a conference call with some of my Senate colleagues about 45 minutes ago,'' he said. "I discussed my future with them, and I'm going to lay it all bare tomorrow at a press conference.''

Other sources, however, confirmed his pending resignation.

Janek, who sold his house in Houston, has been living in a rental house in Galveston, within his district, and commuting to a new home he and his family purchased in Austin last year.

Fort Bend Now and The Professors, who speculate about possible Republican successors (may I just say "UGH!" to the idea of Sen. Dennis Bonnen?), have more. I presume, though I haven't consulted the election code yet, that there would need to be a special election this year to replace him; it'll be interesting to see if Gov. Perry tries to shoehorn it into May, or waits till November. Janek's district is somewhat purple (Excel spreadsheet), though for it to be competitive for a Democrat, he or she would need to start out with a chunk of money and be able to raise a lot more fast. We'll see what happens.

UPDATE: Greg has more, and Burka has an interesting tease.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on January 28, 2008 to That's our Lege