Medina’s star rising in GOP gubernatorial primary
By DAVE MONTGOMERY
dmontgomery@star-telegram.com
AUSTIN — After months of being largely dismissed in a race dominated by the state’s two Republican heavyweights, Debra Medina is making her presence felt with an anti-establishment message that has evidently struck a chord among a segment of Republican voters.
Buoyed by her performance against Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in last week’s televised debate, the conservative activist has climbed to 12 percent in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll, up from 4 percent in November, a showing that prompted organizers to include her in a second debate Jan. 29.
“Her performance in the debate made her the legitimate and credible ‘none-of-the-above,’ ” said Harvey Kronberg of the Austin-based Quorum Report, an online political newsletter.