Andrew D and Vince Leibowitz both quote from a Capitol Inside report which says that Commerce Secretary Don Evans is considering a run for Governor when his service in DC is up, either 2006 or 2010. Both of them see him as having credible prospects.

My reaction is more "Don Evans? Why?" I guess I don't see what his appeal is, whether compared to Kay Bailey Hutchison, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, or Rick Perry. "Closer to George Bush than those other guys", maybe. I'm also not sure where he'll get the funds he'll need to raise his name ID enough to compete with them and their already-large campaign coffers.

I don't know. I don't have any reason to doubt this report, I just doubt Evans' reasons for thinking he can win. I certainly could be wrong, and I certainly wouldn't object to a bloody, expensive three- or four-way GOP primary in the Governor's race. I'm just having a hard time envisioning any excitement over a former Commerce Secretary coming home to run for Governor.

UPDATE: The Chron reports on this as well.

Secretary of Commerce Don Evans, a former Texas oilman and longtime friend of President Bush, is being encouraged to return home and run for governor, a Republican insider said Monday.

The source, a longtime political player in Austin and Washington, said Evans hasn't dismissed the idea but doesn't plan to seriously consider it until after the November presidential election.

Evans was out of the country Monday. But Ron Bonjean, a Commerce Department spokesman, said Evans isn't planning to run for governor.

"Secretary Evans is 100 percent committed to serving President Bush as secretary of commerce," Bonjean said. But he couldn't confirm or deny whether Evans has been asked to consider a gubernatorial race.

"He has had some people approach him, and he is thinking about it," said the Republican source, who spoke on condition he not be identified. He wouldn't say who was encouraging Evans but said a gubernatorial race in either 2006 or 2010 was a possibility.