Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is angling to replace Rick Perry (and his Twittering hair) in the governor's office, has a serious conflict of interest with her husband's work as a lawyer working on bonds issued by local governments, the AP's Jay Root reports (spotted via the Dallas Morning News):

As the state's senior U.S. senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison has secured hundreds of millions of federal dollars for public projects across Texas. As one of the state's top public finance attorneys, Ray Hutchison has helped issue and defend the government bonds that benefit many of the same cities and public agencies getting that federal money.

Critics on both sides of the political aisle say that's a conflict of interest, even if neither Hutchison has ever been accused of wrongdoing. Both Hutchisons say their dealings are entirely ethical and bristle at any suggestion otherwise.

Ray Hutchison has worked for clients including Houston's Metro system and Dallas' DART transit system, Root writes.