I can’t figure this out. Just a week after strongly hinting that she’ll be announcing a bid for the Senate, Katherine Harris has apparently decided not to run and will instead seek re-election to the House.
The AP is reporting that it just “learned” this information so there’s no explanation as to why Harris has made this decision, but it’s a pretty big surprise.
In fact, the stage had been all-but set. Harris was leading in statewide polls, she had encouragement from the state GOP, she had plenty of money, and she saw an open seat, which as she said last week, made this “a really easy decision.”
Harris already sounded like a definite candidate, reminding reporters last week that she’s “the only one who has won statewide, and has more experience” than the rest of the GOP field.
I really have to assume that Karl Rove and other White House officials, who were actively discouraging her and promoting former HUD Secretary Mel Martinez for the seat, successfully talked Harris out of this.
And that sigh of disappointment you hear is the sound of the Florida Democratic Party, which was really anxious to run against her in November.