Independent-minded Wake County school board member Debra Goldman said Monday she’s “nearing a final decision” on whether to run for higher office, but she didn’t say which one.

A member of the Republican majority elected to the board in 2009, Cary resident Goldman became the third GOP-backed member to hint or state outright that he or she would like to move up the political ladder.

Board member Chris Malone has said he is out to win the Republican primary spot for a redistricted House seat that represents areas from Wake Forest to Morrisville. And John Tedesco has all but confirmed that he’ll seek the Republican nomination for state superintendent of public instruction.

In a news release issued Monday, Goldman said Gov. Bev Perdue’s decision to seek a half-cent increase in the state sales tax moved her to consider a run for an unspecified higher office.

“I have been contemplating a run for higher office for quite some time,” Goldman said in her statement. “This recent $750 million tax hike proposal by the governor just doesn’t make sense. … The real solution is fiscal responsibility, something Raleigh has not seen lately.”

Efforts to reach Goldman for further comment weren’t successful Monday.

The release describes her as a “maverick” on the school assignment issue and makes note of her status as a community volunteer, breast cancer survivor and fiscal conservative.

The ruling coalition with whom Goldman entered office was swept from power by Democratic-backed candidates in last fall’s elections. Democrats now hold five of the nine board seats.

Goldman broke with her Republican colleagues with an October 2010 vote against fellow GOP member John Tedesco’s proposal for a zoned student-assignment plan, based on her preference for a system with base schools.

Should she remain on the school board, Goldman would likely remain in the minority through 2015 because only the four seats currently held by Republicans will be on the ballot in the 2013 school board election.

If she decides to run, Goldman could become the fourth or fifth county-level official on the ballot in the May primary.

Paul Coble, chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, is running for the Republican nomination for a U.S. House slot, while commission member Tony Gurley is campaigning for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.

Malone said his move isn’t related to last fall’s elections or the prospect of being in the board minority for four years, noting he announced his candidacy for the state House before last fall’s elections.

Meanwhile, a backer of the “neighborhood schools” platform that helped create the GOP majority in 2009 predicted that Goldman had little chance of advancing her political fortunes.

“I think she’d have an extremely difficult time getting re-elected to the post that she’s in now,” said Cary resident Joe Ciulla, a former leader of the grassroots group Wake Schools Community Alliance. “A lot of it has to do with the way she’s conducted herself. On any given day, it’s hard to predict what she’s going to do.”

All the Republicans have terms on the officially nonpartisan board that run through 2013, so they won’t lose their seats if they run unsuccessfully this year. .

Staff writer T. Keung Hui contributed to this report.

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