Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy has announced he intends to seek reelection in 2014.
The first-term governor said he decided to announce so he could participate in the state's public campaign financing program.
"I'm announcing that we intend to be around for a while," he said. He'll be running again with Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman. Several Republicans have already announced their intentions to challenge him, including 2010 Republican nominee Tom Foley, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, and attorney Martha Dean. One Democrat, Lee Whitnum, has said she plans to run.
The governor earlier had said that his announcement would wait until the end of the legislative session in May. But the early dynamics of the campaign changed that. He also wanted to make sure his family was up for a second run at the state's top office. Finally, Malloy said he wants to participate in the state's public campaign financing program. That means raising $250,000 to qualify.
"It's a lot of work to raise $250,000 in small allotments and let the work begin," he said.
Malloy said he hopes to keep some distance between the campaign and his job as governor.
"In fact, we'll do a lot of attempts to avoid being dragged into the campaign as long as we can," the governor said.
In other campaign news, the governor says he has spoken with Ted Kennedy Jr. -- the son of the late Massachusetts senator -- and encouraged him to run for a soon-to-be vacant state senate seat.
