Seattle Mayor Norm Rice plans to announce his campaign for governor today at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute.

Rice will become the fourth Democrat - and the third from King County - to seek the job incumbent Mike Lowry is vacating. The governor’s race will be the first statewide campaign for the two-term mayor.

He has scheduled an 8 a.m. news conference in the SIRTI boardroom to announce his candidacy. Afterward, he will fly to Richland and Seattle to repeat the announcement.

Re-elected by a large margin in 1993, Rice briefly considered a campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1994. He serves as the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Rice joins King County Executive Gary Locke, state Sen. Nita Rinehart and former U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee in the race for the Democratic nomination.

The Republican field is even more crowded, with King County GOP leader Nona Brazier, former state Sen. Ellen Craswell of Poulsbo, state Rep. Dale Foreman of Wenatchee, King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng, state Sen. Pam Roach of Auburn and Tacoma attorney Jim Waldo already running. U.S. Rep. Linda Smith of Vancouver is a possible candidate. , DataTimes