Will Kay Bailey Hutchison run in 2012?

Dave Catanese of Politico reports U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) will likely run for a fourth term in 2012 after losing the 2010 gubernatorial primary to Gov. Rick Perry:

Hutchison hasn’t yet given any public indication of whether she’s running, and top Republicans in Washington, as well as personal friends, say she’s keeping her cards close to her vest.

But with the looming March 2012 primary, several other candidates swirling and the senator remaining tight-lipped, many GOP-ers see no reason to believe Hutchison’s ready to step aside.

“She’s running for reelection,” said one Texas Republican who has worked with the senator, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Indecision is the status quo.”

If I can read the tea leaves (pardon the pun), her votes seem to indicate that as she would likely face a stiffer challenge from a tea party candidate than a Democrat. Along with another senator potentially facing a tea-party challenge, Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), she voted for the failed earmarks moratorium in a version of the food safety bill that both voted against in March. She also voted against the DREAM Act in December after previously supporting it.