Fancy this. U.S. Rep. Tiny Tim Griffin is thinking about making a race for lieutenant governor — this year.

Coincidentally, Griffin and his sycophants nearly had a conniption fit when I sent a question earlier this week about a report I’d received from Immanuel Baptist Church, which Griffin attends, that he’d told another churchgoer he was thinking about making a race for governor.

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Such nonsense, I was informed. I even was favored, through channels, with a rare response from Griffin himself: 

I am not running for governor. I support Asa Hutchinson 100 percent, and he will be our next governor.

Maybe my indirect source was just a little hard of hearing and what Tiny Tim said was LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR.

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Republican State Reps. Charlie Collins and Andy Mayberry are already in the race. John Burkhalter has announced as a Democrat.

Perfect do-nothing job for Griffin to maintain some public exposure and knock down $42,000 a year while he redevelops his political hatchetman work and plots for a future run for statewide office. He’s told just about everybody I know he wants to be governor. Some day. The Griffin rumor the other day had a certain degree of credibility for that reason and also because all Republicans are not wholly confident that Asa Hutchinson, their expected nominee, can defeat Democrat Mike Ross. Should Ross win — and Republicans hold the House — the expectation is a slew of Republican-passed bills designed to create bullet points for a Griffin gubernatorial campaign against Ross in 2018. Or so the thinking goes.

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AP’s report on Griffin’s “consideration” of a run doesn’t give a timetable or a determining factor. He decided not to seek re-election this year because of time away from family. The state office won’t require much of that, as Mark Darr proved.

UPDATE: The Democratic Party welcomes Griffin to the race with a statement from spokesman Lizzie Price:

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“The only thing that Tim Griffin brings to the table is the dysfunctional politics of Washington. Griffin has voted to put thousands of Arkansans out of work by shutting down the government, and he repeatedly voted against pipeline safety measures that could have prevented the disaster that turned Mayflower residents’ lives upside down.

John Burkhalter is not running as a career politician but to be a full-time advocate to create jobs in Arkansas by attracting new companies to invest in our state and helping Arkansas companies expand. When it comes to the Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidate that is best for Arkansas, Burkhalter is the clear choice.”

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