HOUSTON, Texas (Legal Newsline) - Democrat Barbara Ann Radnofsky announced Tuesday she is running for Texas attorney general.

Radnofsky, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2006, vowed that if she is elected to protect Texans from unscrupulous trade practices by Utilities and insurance companies.

"Our statewide leaders aren't fighting for us; they're fighting for themselves and their own personal agendas. We've seen how the attorney general can harm our everyday lives: our electric bills, the insurance and taxes we pay, the safety of our children," she said. "We need an attorney general who will use her skills to make sure all Texans get the protection they deserve."

Radnofsky lost the 2006 Senate race in a landslide to Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, who now holds the set. Radnofsky is the first woman to have won the Democratic nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas.

She said she will make a formal campaign announcement later this year or early next year.

As for winning a statewide race in the solidly Republican Lone Star State, Radnofsky said recent polling indicates Texas is ready to vote more Democratic.

Her campaign statement said in a recent poll conducted by a Republican polling firm in Texas, 32 percent of voters in Texas said that Republican elected officials performed their job well enough to deserve reelection for their offices.

By contrast, 54 percent of respondents said "it's time to give Democrats the chance to do better" in office.

"I'm in this race to stay and I'm in it to win," Radnofsky said.

From Legal Newsline: Reach staff reporter Chris Rizo at chrisrizo@legalnewsline.com.