But while the actor, who lives in the Lone Star State’s capital, Austin, remains on the sideline without saying what he plans to do, some who want to occupy the office either have placed themselves in a holding pattern, choosing to wait and see what McConaughey does, or are wringing their hands about his possible run. McConaughey is seen as a potential lock for Democrats, who have not won statewide office since 1994, even if he has not publicly revealed his position on many key issues facing Texans…

“He appears to be simply enjoying the publicity. It doesn’t work that way. He needs to pick a party,” said Gilberto Hinojosa, chair of the Texas Democratic Party. “Nobody knows what this guy stands for.”

Jim Henson, who directs the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, has yet to conduct a poll about the actor because, he said, “I’m deeply skeptical.”

“I’m not really interested unless he commits. If he’s going to do it, he would do everyone a service by not stringing us along,” Henson said.