May 30, 2013 12:29 PM UTC

Gessler (Sort Of) Announces Gubernatorial Run

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: The Denver Post's Joey Bunch reports–catch the fever!

Gessler said he expects to make a final decision in one to three months. He could still relaunch his secretary of state campaign, if he finds the governor's race isn't a good fit, he said.

We're guessing that's not going to be their slogan.

Seriously folks, when the hell did such pusillanimous futzing around become the way to launch a campaign?

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9NEWS' Brandon Rittiman:

Republican Scott Gessler told 9NEWS he is suspending his re-election campaign for secretary of state, and is forming a committee Thursday to finance a run for the governor of Colorado.

At this point, Gessler has not gone all-in on his gubernatorial bid, saying he is not prepared to make a formal announcement for the office yet.

"I plan to spend the summer making sure my issues are the right issues for the state of Colorado," Gessler said…

"I want to avoid damaging the Republican Party through a contentious primary," Gessler said.

We'll update with further coverage–whatever is going on behind the scenes in terms of negotiations to avoid a primary against Tom Tancredo, or perhaps someone else, is more important right now than anything you'll see publicly. Gessler's halting transition into this race is a telling indicator that he has in no way "cleared the field." To be honest, we're not sure anyone has the power to do that at this point–although Gessler probably wishes he had made up his mind a bit sooner (as in, before Tancredo).

Not a very inspiring campaign launch either, we shouldn't have to say.