Here's the full text of Chris Bell's official announcement that he's in the race for Governor. And I must say I'm suitably impressed with the Chron story, which not only covered the reason for his long exploratory phase (his wife, Allison, is recovering from breast cancer), it actually includes a link to the announcement. Compare it to the AP story that I spotted earlier today and you'll see what I mean.

Anyway. Time to get down to business. We all expect Perry and Strayhorn to blow a sizeable chunk of their campaign war chests in the GOP primary, but we should also expect that whoever wins will get it all back in short order. With that said, now's a great time to get Chris started on making up the ground he'll have to cover to be competitive.

As for the continued speculation about John Sharp, well, he's welcome to come in any time, and may the best candidate win. Greg has a post from a few days ago on former Congressional candidate Felix Alvarado, who has also announced a bid. As long as everyone keeps their focus on Rick Perry and not slagging each other, the more the merrier. Let the campaign begin!