Texas politics is nothing if not interesting. Republican Governor Rick Perry has been in office for more than nine years. If he hopes to stay there, he’ll have to get past Republican opponents U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and businesswoman Debra Medina.
This was supposed to be the clash of the titans, but Senator Hutchison has been unable to turn her popularity as a Senator into support for her gubernatorial campaign. Back in July, it was a tight race. A Rassmussen Reports poll showed Perry leading Hutchison by 10 points, 46% to 36%. Since then, Perry has held onto his numbers as Hutchison’s have slipped.
Enter the third candidate into the race. Debra Medina is a business woman and former GOP chair in Wharton County Texas. Pretty much everyone but her campaign counted her out early on in the race. Medina battled to be included in the two GOP debates (she eventually participated in both). Medina started out with polling numbers in the 3% or 4% range, but after the televised debates, Medina surged to 16 or 17%. Tea Party organizers claimed her as their candidate.
Then came her interview on Glenn Beck’s radio show last week. Here’s the exchange:
BECK: Do you believe the government was any way involved with the bringing down of the World Trade Centers on 9/11?
MEDINA: I don’t, I don’t have all of the evidence there, Glenn. So I don’t I’m not in a place, I have not been out publicly questioning that. I think some very good questions have been raised in that regard. There are some very good arguments, and I think the American people have not seen all of the evidence there. So I’ve not taken a position on that.
After the interview, Medina issued a statement that read, in part:
“…there is no doubt in my mind that Muslim terrorists flew planes into those buildings on 9/11. I have not seen any evidence nor have I ever believed that our government was involved or directed those individuals in any way. “
Medina also said that the 9/11 question surprised her and that it was “…not relevant to this race or the issues facing Texans.”
No polls have been released since Medina’s comments, but Medina says her campaign has seen a recent infusion of about $50,000 in donations.
With Governor Perry comfortably leading the pack, why does all this even matter? The Governor’s polling is hanging around 45%. He needs 50% to avoid a runoff and another costly and bruising six weeks battling a fellow Republican before being able to turn his attention to his Democratic opponent. Prior to her comments on Beck, some had suggested Medina might be able to push past Kay Bailey Hutchison and into a runoff. Tea Party activists predicted a Scott Brown type upset.
What happens now is anyone’s guess. Cal Jillson, a professor at Southern Methodist University, thinks Medina will take a hit in the polls, but also says, this, after all, is Texas politics, where anything can happen. Early voting for the primary has already begun. The main event is March 2nd.