Texas A&M presidency selection down to Sen. Gramm, former CIA director
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Sen. Phil Gramm and former CIA director Robert Gates have emerged as the top candidates for the Texas A&M president’s job, with the board of regents deadlocked, three sources with ties to the Republican Party told The Associated Press.

Five regents favor Gates, while three prefer Gramm, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The ninth board member, Gramm’s wife, Wendy, has recused herself from the process.

The three regents who prefer Gramm are more closely tied to Republican Party politics and favor his political connections, while Gates’ appeal is his academic background, said two of the sources, a Republican elected official and a consultant.

The board wants to reach a consensus before naming its selection, one source said.

Gramm announced in August that he would finish his third term and then retire. That disclosure came soon after A&M’s outgoing President Ray Bowen said he would retire this summer.

Gramm has been denying rumors since last week that he was considering stepping down early, but has left open the possibility that he would accept an attractive offer. Spokesman Larry Neal said no such offer has come
from A&M.

“He has no reason to believe that he’s a candidate,” Neal said. “Literally all we know about the presidency at Texas A&M is what we read in the newspapers.”

If Gramm were chosen, he could leave his Senate job before his term ends in January 2003. Gov. Rick Perry then would appoint someone to fill Gramm’s seat — possibly GOP Senate candidate John Cornyn. The winner of the November race to replace Gramm — either Cornyn or Democrat Ron Kirk — would take the job permanently in January.

Gramm flatly denied the scenario to The Dallas Morning News.

“It sounds to me like it’s a bunch of Democrats who got drunk in Austin and decided how could they make Christmas come early,” he told the newspaper for Wednesday’s editions. “They’re wrong. I’m not going anywhere.”

Cornyn, too, called the suggestion “unsubstantiated rumor.”

“I’m running for election and that’s the way I intend to get to the United States Senate is through election,” he told the AP.

Gates is a board trustee for the Forum for International Policy in Washington, D.C., a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank of nationally recognized foreign policy experts. He could not be reached by phone calls.

Regents Chairman Erle Nye said board members have pledged not to discuss the board’s deliberations.

“Between the candidates, there is a diversity of opinion on the board,” Nye said.

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