Sen. Van de Putte: Heading for the big stage.

Seems that someone at a national level has been paying attention to the career of Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio. Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean announced today that, along with Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius and mayor of Atlanta Shirley Franklin, she’s been nominated as permanent convention co-chair for the Democrat National Convention, to be held in Denver this November. With US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi getting the nod to become the convention’s permanent chair, that’s a female-heavy slate (what the “barefoot and pregnant” brigade will make of that boggles the mind.)

There were repeated rumors in the Lege early last session that the San Antonio Dem and president of the National Conference of State Legislatures was contemplating standing down, but those faded fast as the clocked ticked down to sine die. Now it looks like she could become the national face of Texas Dems.

This article appears in June 29 • 2007.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.