State senator to take a new job at a Houston university

Kirk Watson is leaving the Texas Legislature.

The former Austin mayor said in a Feb. 18 announcement that he would resign from the Texas Senate for a job in academia.

Watson will become founding dean of the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs. It was created in 2016 as its own school within UH.

As Austin mayor from 1997 to 2001 and a state senator since 2007, Watson has been one of the most important power brokers in Central Texas for the last two decades — playing a huge role…