Her name at birth was Kathyrn Ann Bailey. She was born in Galveston, Texas. She received a law degree but became a television reporter. In 1972 she was elected to the Texas state house of representatives, of which she was a member until 1976. She was vice-chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board from 1977 to 1978. She was a candidate for election to the United States House of Representatives in 1982, but she was defeated. She temporarily left politics and became a successful bank executive and businesswoman. She was elected Texas State Treasurer in 1991 and served until 1993 when she was elected United States senator in a June 1993 special election, after Lloyd Bentsen, a Democrat, left the Senate to become U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. She was elected to a full term in 1994 and reelected in 2000.