DETROIT (AP) -- Partisanship and insider politics are blocking efforts to restore Michigan's economic health, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero said Monday as he kicked off his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor.
Speaking at the Detroit Chassis LLC plant in Detroit, Bernero, the 45-year-old son of a former GM worker, painted himself as a political outsider and said the state has tried Republican and Democratic ways of governing and now needs to find "the Michigan way."
"Our current leaders have delivered little more than the same old partisan bickering, obstructionism and gridlock," he said to the roughly 100 supporters who gathered, as RV chassis moved along the assembly line behind him.
He said state leaders have "presided over budget debacle after budget debacle and state government shutdowns ... while our beloved state has climbed to the top of the list in unemployment and foreclosures and one-way trips out of state."
"It's time to take back our state before it's too late," Bernero said.
Bernero served from 2001-06 as a state representative and state senator and was sworn in last month to his second term as Lansing mayor.
He planned to stop in Grand Rapids Monday afternoon and Lansing that evening.
State Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith is the only other Democrat who has said she's running for the office, but several other Democrats have indicated they are considering entering the race, including House Speaker Andy Dillon; University of Michigan Regent Denise Ilitch; former state Treasurer Robert Bowman and former Genesee County Treasurer Dan Kildee.
Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm leaves office at year's end because of term limits.
Five Republicans hoping to capitalize on Granholm's low job approval ratings have been running since last year. At this point, they have a decided advantage over their Democratic counterparts in name recognition and fundraising.
They are Attorney General Mike Cox, U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard and state Sen. Tom George.
Bernero is little known among voters outside of mid-Michigan. He drew attention as a fierce advocate for autoworkers in national television interviews as GM and Chrysler Group LLC struggled to stay afloat in late 2008 and get through bankruptcy last year.
Bernero formed a national alliance of mayors of auto towns to press Congress and the White House to support manufacturing and assist in Michigan's economic recovery.
Michigan
2:35pm: Lansing mayor enters gov. race
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