Wendy Davis' Decision to Run for Congress on Hold

"We have nothing to announce at this time."

That's the official non-announcement announcement from a spokesman for Wendy Davis.

Wendy Davis (Photo by Jana Birchum)

That's also the latest fallout of a fairly comical story in the Statesman Thursday, reporting that an aide to Congressman Filemon Vela (D-Brownsville) told the paper that Davis plans to run in Congressional District 21 (currently held by GOP incumbent Chip Roy), and will be making a formal announcement next week. In addition, the Texas Tribune reported Thursday that a D.C. fundraising event to be held Tuesday is being billed on invitations as "in support of [the Davis] campaign for CD21."

It's not exactly a closely held secret -- Davis has said she's been "considering" a TX-21 run for weeks, and the consensus among Texas politicos generally has been it's only a question of timing. That timing has been disrupted, obviously, by someone in Vela's office letting the cat out of the bag, on an announcement traditionally left to the candidate herself. A list of big-name Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the top of the list, are reportedly hosts of the D.C. fundraiser.

Two of the prominent Texas Democrats on the list – Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Veronica Escobar – are in Austin this afternoon for a press conference on "the importance of preserving and protecting" the Affordable Care Act, at the Texas AFL-CIO Hall near the Capitol.

Suffice it to say, Vela's press secretary, Abigail Sheppard, likely had her ears burning this morning after apparently telling Statesman reporter Matt Zdun that “Wendy spoke to [Vela] directly that she plans on running.”

Under the big Democratic circus tent, there are plenty of previously unannounced performers.