WASHINGTON -- Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison says  she is staying in the Senate.

The state's senior senator, flanked by Republican leader Mitch McConnell and junior Texas Sen. John Cornyn, told reporters she will serve out her third term, which ends in 2012. She had previously said she would resign her seat.

The decision announced Wednesday in San Antonio comes after 20 Texas Republican House members signed a letter last month urging her to stay in the Senate. Hutchison said last year that she would step down by the end of 2009 to concentrate on her run for governor.