Rep. Hoekstra talks about his run for Governor

MICHIGAN (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Lieutenant Governor John Cherry is now considered a shoe-in in the race to become the Democratic candidate for Governor in 2010.

Oakland County executive L. Brooks Patterson, is not. Patterson issued a statement on Thursday saying he's not going to run. He said the campaign would take too much time away from his job running county government.

That leaves what was an already wide-open race on the Republican side, even more wide open.

Secretary of State Terry Lynn Land and State Attorney General Mike Cox have both formed exploratory committees.

In late March, U.S. Representative Pete Hoekstra made his plan to run official. Hoekstra kicked off his campaign with a barnstorming tour of the state.

On Thursday, Newschannel 3 sat down with Congressman Hoekstra.

With Patterson announcing he will not run, Hoekstra is left in a field of Republicans he thinks highly of, but clearly thinks he can beat.

Recent polling of Republican candidates had Patterson ahead of Hoekstra with 22 percent of the vote. Hoekstra came in second with 17 percent, ahead of Cox at 15 and Land at 12.

Hoekstra says it's too early to brand him a front-runner, but he does feel comfortable heading into what could be a long campaign cycle.

"The thing that really sets me apart is I've got an MBA, spent 15 years in the private sector working for a Fortune 500 company like Herman Miller, and then legislative experience," said Rep. Hoekstra. "I'm the only person that comes to the race with business experience and political experience in a legislative body and I think for the next governor to be successful, that's a nice balance to have."

Hoekstra does contend that Governor Jennifer Granholm's leadership has set the state on the wrong track, but that he intends to right the ship.