University of Arkansas Chancellor G. David Gearhart said Thursday he does not know who created the Draft Dave Gearhart Twitter account (@Gearhart4Gov), adding he is not going to run for governor or any other political office.
Gearhart said he still has a lot to accomplish at the university, but might want to teach after leaving his current post.
Gearhart said he grew up around Democrats but has always voted for the person rather than the party and wouldn’t know whether to run as a Democrat or Republican.
However, he won’t be a candidate in the next governor’s race in 2014 or for any other political office at any other time, he said.
“I have no desire whatsoever,” he said of seeking public office. “I don’t see that in my future.”
Joking that universities are known for being highly politicized institutions, Gearhart said Woodrow Wilson, a former president of Princeton University, stated when leaving the academic world to run for governor that he was doing so to “get out of politics.”
Gearhart said he doesn’t use Twitter but had heard about the Draft Dave Gearhart account and asked his son to look it up for him.
The account was created anonymously last week, and by Thursday afternoon (Dec. 27) had 61 followers, including state Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, and Teresa Oelke, regional director for Americans for Prosperity.
The account features a photograph of Gearhart and identifies itself as “Arkansans hoping to draft our state’s most accomplished leader into the 2014 Gubernatorial race.”
