Free Republic

If one needs further evidence that the tea party movement is not just opposed to Democrats but to establishment politicians in general, look no further than the Texas GOP gubernatorial primary, set for March 2. Tea party activist Debra Medina is surging, according to a new Public Policy Polling survey. Medina has the support of 24% of Texas Republicans polled, only slightly behind Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, who has 28%. Current Gov. Rick Perry still leads with 39%. The full survey is here (pdf). If this doesn’t panic establishment Republicans, they should at least be looking over their shoulders.

Debra Medina's surprising success in the Texas Republican primary for Governor seems to be driven more by anti-establishment sentiment than ideology. Among GOP voters who think Congressional Republicans are too liberal Rick Perry still leads with 41% to 34% for Medina and just 17% for Kay Bailey Hutchison. Medina certainly does better with those voters than she does with the overall electorate but it's not enough to put her ahead of the incumbent. Among GOP voters who just generally disapprove of Congressional Republicans though Medina goes into the lead with 37% to 32% for Perry and 22% for Hutchison. Those...

I have been telling friends for a couple of weeks now that if Medina can raise $2 million by February 16 (the start of early voting), she will be governor. What this poll tells me is that Texans are sick and tired of Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison and their career politician credentials and their negative campaigns. Medina is Sarah Palin with gravitas and without the winks.

Medina now leads Hutchison among conservatives WHARTON, TX – In the latest poll of likely Republican primary voters from February 4th to 7th, the North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling (PPP) report shows Debra Medina is coming on strong. According to the PPP report, although Perry is at 39% to 28% for Kay Bailey Hutchison, Debra Medina is now at a whopping 24%! There are major splits within the race along ideological lines according to the poll results. Perry is at 42% with conservatives, and Medina is now outpolling Hutchison with conservatives by a 25-23 margin.

Nobody -- well, hardly anybody outside perhaps the Medina household -- expects the small business owner and anti-Washington crusader to be the next governor of Texas. Heck, until recently she wasn’t even much of a factor in the shoot-'em-up between the two leviathans of Lone Star politics, Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Then again, up until a couple of weeks out, nobody thought Brown -- a little-known state senator and ex-Cosmo model -- stood much chance of swiping the Massachusetts Senate seat held for almost a quarter century by the late Edward M. Kennedy. That said, a...

Tea party-backed candidate Debra Medina is closing on Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in Texas’s Republican gubernatorial primary, increasing the odds the race led by Gov. Rick Perry will be thrown into a runoff. According to a survey out Tuesday by Public Policy Polling, Medina, a nurse who’s now a businesswoman, had the support of 24 percent of likely Republican primary voters, trailing the three-term senator by only 4 percentage points. Perry, who leads Hutchison by double-digits in several polls, got 39 percent in the latest survey. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the March...

Is Debra Medina the next Scott Brown? Nobody -- well, hardly anybody outside perhaps the Medina household -- expects the small business owner and anti-Washington crusader to be the next governor of Texas. Heck, until recently she wasn’t even much of a factor in the shoot-'em-up between the two leviathans of Lone Star politics, Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.Debra Medina Then again, up until a couple of weeks out, nobody thought Brown -- a little-known state senator and ex-Cosmo model -- stood much chance of swiping the Massachusetts Senate seat held for almost a quarter century by...

An unexpected feature of this year's gubernatorial race is the revival of certain political notions identified with early American history. Republican candidate Debra Medina in particular has made nullification a major aspect of her campaign, both in her two debates with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry and on her Web site, which includes, under the label "Restore Sovereignty," the message that the U.S. Constitution "divides power between the federal and state governments and ultimately reserves final authority for the people themselves. Texas must stop the over reaching federal government and nullify federal mandates in agriculture, energy,...

Tea party-backed candidate Debra Medina is closing on Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in Texas’s Republican gubernatorial primary, increasing the odds the race led by Gov. Rick Perry will be thrown into a runoff. According to a by Public Policy Polling, Medina, a nurse who’s now a businesswoman, had the support of 24 percent of likely Republican primary voters, trailing the three-term senator by only 4 percentage points. Perry, who’s leading Hutchison by double-digits in several polls, got 39 percent in the latest survey. If none of the candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the March 2...

Several hundred area residents attended a Saturday Burleson Tea Party rally held at Forrest Auto Group in Cleburne. Republican candidates competing in local, state and congressional races shared the stage with other conservative speakers. Signs critical of President Obama’s administration and the Democratic agenda dotted the crowd, although two women displayed signs denouncing Republicans and the Tea Party movement. Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina promised to fight to eliminate property tax and fight eminent domain abuses if elected. “Private property and gun ownership are essential elements of freedom,” Medina said. “If the national government or state takes from people what...

Critics say eliminating all property taxes would reduce local control. Debra Medina, the feisty Republican running for governor, promises Texans that she will liberate them from their property taxes. "I talk about that for freedom reasons first," Medina said at the Jan. 29 gubernatorial debate. "We've surrendered private property ownership to the ever-growing state — we lease our property in the form of ever increasing rents known as property taxes," she wrote on her campaign Web site. "We've forgotten that ownership is an essential element of freedom." A call to eliminate property taxes might resonate with many taxpayers, beleaguered...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin stumped for Gov. Rick Perry at a rally Sunday in suburban Houston, adding some national Republican star power to Perry's re-election campaign. “I doubt there is another public figure in our country who gives liberals a bigger case of the hives than our special guest today,” Perry said. “At the very mention of her name, the liberals, the progressives, the media elites, they literally foam at the mouth.” Palin appeared with Perry a day after the Republicans' most recent vice-presidential nominee addressed the first national convention of the anti-establishment “tea party” coalition in Nashville, Tenn....

Debra Medina's interview with Judge Napolitano on Fox News Freedom Watch. http://freedomwatchonfox.com/

Are you intentionally lying? Straight from your source: "The surprise, as in the new Rasmussen Reports survey of the GOP gubernatorial primary, is the growing strength of Debra Medina, a businesswoman active in the state’s Tea Party movement. Medina now edges White 41% to 38%."

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry in his unprecedented nine years in office proved time and again that he is a team player: team Republican. Perry's actions and policies as governor — from tort reform to congressional redistricting to championing an amendment banning gay marriage — made him anathema to Democrats. But his approval rating among self-identified Republicans in public opinion surveys remains above 70 percent........ “You can easily summarize Perry's record by saying: Most Texans don't expect much from their state government, and that's what he's given them,” Jillson said.........Redistricting Victory It was the seminal year of his governorship....

There is a lady who is a true Conservative running for Governor of Texas and, in the polls, she is closing in on Ted Kennedy's girlfriend, Kay Bailey Hutchison. Her name is Debra Medina. Check out her website: http://www.medinafortexas.com/

AUSTIN — Former Houston Mayor Bill White may be trailing all three Republican candidates for governor in a new survey, but a top Democratic consultant said it shows him as well-positioned to start the general election. The latest survey by the political newsletter Rasmussen Reports found White trailing Gov. Rick Perry 48 percent to 39 percent; U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, 49 percent to 36 percent; and activist Debra Medina, 41 percent to 38 percent. The survey of 1,000 likely Texas voters was conducted Monday. Democratic consultant Ed Martin said the poll results are good for White because he is...

The "tea party" movement is showing its strength in Texas, where activist Debra Medina is siphoning votes from two much more familiar names running for the Republican nomination for governor. The Houston Chronicle's profile of Medina is worth a read. With less than two weeks remaining before early voting begins, Medina's campaign appears to be gathering steam; the latest Rasmussen Reports survey shows her drawing 16 percent of the vote, versus 29 percent for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who's trying to make the move from Washington to Austin, and 44 percent for the sitting governor, Rick Perry. The Medina threat...

Incumbent Rick Perry's lead over Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has grown a little bigger in the race for this year's Republican gubernatorial nomination in Texas. Tea Party activist Debra Medina also has gained ground, and her gains appear to come at the expense of Hutchison. The latest Rasmussen Reports survey of likely Republican Primary voters in Texas finds Perry leading Hutchison 44% to 29%, with Medina at 16%. Medina has gained four points since the previous survey while Hutchison has lost four points. Perry's support is little changed from a month ago. Medina, the owner of a medical consulting firm,...

Incumbent Rick Perry's lead over Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has grown a little bigger in the race for this year's Republican gubernatorial nomination in Texas. Tea Party activist Debra Medina also has gained ground, and her gains appear to come at the expense of Hutchison. The latest Rasmussen Reports survey of likely Republican Primary voters in Texas finds Perry leading Hutchison 44% to 29%, with Medina at 16%. Medina has gained four points since the previous survey while Hutchison has lost four points. Perry's support is little changed from a month ago.