PPP has taken a look at potential Republican candidates in the race to succeed the retiring Kay Bailey Hutchison in Texas. The results were a bit surprising:
The top two choices of Texas Republicans to be their Senate nominee next year are David Dewhurst…and Ron Paul. The duo is basically tied with 23% saying Dewhurst would be their top pick as the GOP candidate and 21% picking Paul.
Maybe a couple years ago the thought of Senator Paul would have seemed ridiculous but after his son breezed through both the Republican primary and the general election in Kentucky last year it seems a lot less far fetched that his dad might join him in the Senate as well. He has a highly committed base of supporters that at the least might help ensure him a runoff spot in what’s likely to be an extremely crowded GOP primary field and you have to think he would be the most well funded candidate in the race if he decided to run, given his already existent national donor base.
As the post goes on to note, the numbers might well reflect only Paul’s far greater name recognition than the declared or all-but-declared field, including single-digit pollers like Roger Williams and Ted Cruz. Presumably, once the field takes shape and campaigning begins in earnest, their numbers will move significantly. Still, if Ron Paul ever had it in his head to be a Senator, this is an encouraging poll.