INDIANAPOLIS ? Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan will announce Friday that he will seek a full term in office next year, with Lt. Gov. Kathy Davis as his running mate.
Kernan, thrust into office in September after the death of Gov. Frank O'Bannon, began calling Democrats about his decision Thursday evening.
Candidate Joe Andrew said he was just pulling up to a family friend's house for a fund-raiser in Evansville when Kernan contacted him.
''Obviously for me this is a dream deferred, delayed, not denied,'' Andrew said. ''I am unbelievably supportive of Joe Kernan and will do everything I can to make sure he is elected.''
Daniel Reagan, Ball State associate professor of political science, said he isn't surprised Kernan decided to run.
"A lot of Democrats were hoping he'd run," Reagan said. "He has a long and deep experience working with the state and a very attractive personal history."
Reagan said he believes working with colleges and universities will be the strong point of Kernan's tenure if he is elected.
"Higher education is a real friend of Kernan," Reagan said.
Reagan said Kernan was one of the key architects of the Energize Indiana plan, a $764-million package that aims to spur economic growth over 10 years. Getting college graduates into the job market was a key component of the plan, Reagan said.
Reagan said Kernan probably decided to run for the governor's seat because of a sense of duty.
"Kernan spent a lot of time as a prisoner of war," Reagan said, referring to the 11 months Kernan spent in Vietnam. "Serving his country at his personal expense is something he has experience with, and he probably felt his party wanted him."
Tina Noel, Kernan's spokeswoman, said Kernan would make an announcement at noon Friday at the Madame Walker Theater in downtown Indianapolis.
State Democratic Chairman Joe Hogsett agreed Kernan's decision puts the party in a stronger position to win next year. Mitch Daniels, a former White House budget director under President George W. Bush, is expected to get the Republican nomination.
Ellen Whitt, deputy campaign manager for Daniels, said Daniels would not comment until after Kernan's announcement Friday.
The Democratic nomination seemed to be Kernan's for the taking, since state Sen. Vi Simpson and Andrew, a former state and national Democratic chairman, both said they would drop out if Kernan entered the race.
''Vi has said from Day One she would be supportive of any decision he would make, and nothing has changed,'' said Simpson campaign spokesman Jeff Harris. ''We are excited about helping elect Joe Kernan governor and will do whatever we can to be supportive.''
Kernan, when he was lieutenant governor, stunned both major parties last December by dropping his expected campaign for the state's highest office. But he was sworn in Sept. 13 after O'Bannon died of a stroke.
In the first few weeks following O'Bannon's illness, Kernan said nothing had changed his mind about running next year. But in late September, first lady Maggie Kernan said in a newspaper interview she had advised her husband not to rule it out.
That renewed hopes among many Democrats that he would get back into the race and unify the party. Tensions have been high between the Simpson and Andrew campaigns, and they never showed any sign of getting together on the same ticket.
Before last December, both parties were gearing up as if the nomination were Kernan's. The prevailing belief on both sides was that if any Democrat could overcome the budget problems and job losses that were dogging O'Bannon's second term and win, it was Kernan.
He was confident and likable, comfortable in front of television cameras, and respected by many lawmakers in both parties. He brought a powerful political resume, having been a popular mayor of South Bend and lieutenant governor.
He could also raise the millions of dollars it might take to defeat Daniels, who has been campaigning in an RV tour of the state for months.
Since Kernan revealed that he might change his mind about running in 2004, the state GOP began gearing up to challenge his record.
As lieutenant governor, Kernan was chief of the state's economic-development efforts. Republican critics have repeatedly claimed that the O'Bannon-Kernan administration bore responsibility for Indiana's budget deficits and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs over the past three years.
''Hoosier voters will have a choice between whether they want to continue the kind of government they've seen or want to go in a new direction with someone who can provide new leadership and turn the state around,'' said Luke Messer, executive director of the state GOP.
State Democrats have blamed most of those problems on the national recession.
House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said Kernan's decision would give state Democrats a ''great boost'' in 2004.
When Kernan announced last December he would not run, he simply said that he and his wife decided it was time to leave political office after what would have been 15 years. He said later he also did not believe he could adequately serve as lieutenant governor and run for governor at the same time.
~Chief Reporter Tara Clifton contributed to this report.
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