Did Hunter Howard just substantiate the rumor?

The rumor has been kicking around that Hunter Howard of the state Chamber would run against Sen. David Thomas in the upcoming Republican primary.

His announcement yesterday would be consistent with the rumor -- as you can read here, he's quitting his 17-year job with the Chamber (I would have guessed it was longer than that, his face and name have been synonymous with S.C. business interests for so long) and moving home to Simpsonville.

So maybe it's so. But if it is, why didn't he say so, and get a free bump from coverage of his leaving the Chamber? Maybe he promised not to; I don't know. When I see him I'll ask him.

In the meantime, we don't have long to wait to see if it's true. The filing deadline is this weekend.