Peggy Fikac suggests that maybe she has.
If the idea of an independent run for governor by Debra Medina has made some GOP powers-that-be a little queasy, that’s fine with her.
All the more so, you may safely assume, if the idea prompts some of them to help fund the race she’d rather run for, the GOP nod for comptroller.
Medina caused a stir when she said she had been encouraged by unnamed people to run as an independent for governor. That would be a potential drain on conservative votes in the expected 2014 matchup between Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott and Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis.
Medina told me last week that a race for governor “is not on my radar … I can’t do both, and I’m really, really focused on running for comptroller. So, there’s no room in my future that I see for that.”
She added she was more encouraged by her prospects for raising the money she would need to compete in the GOP primary for comptroller than when we spoke just a week earlier.
“I’ve got some pretty solid commitments from some folks that are going to do some work, and we’ll see what happens,” she said. As for those trying to lure her into an independent race for governor, she said, “I haven’t heard any more about that since late September.”
That doesn’t quite jibe with what Rick Casey had reported a week or so earlier, but never mind. The “Medina for Governor as an independent” thing was both too good to be true and hard to understand from a rational perspective, since there was never a chance she’d come within shouting distance of being competitive. The fact that it fired up Democrats more than any other group should be a warning bell for all concerned. At this point, I think we should just assume that Medina is desperately seeking attention because her bid for Comptroller isn’t going anywhere. Mission accomplished and well played, madam. Beats me what she’ll do for her next trick, however.