WHEELING - Current state Sen. Jeff Kessler wants to be the next governor of West Virginia.
On Tuesday, Kessler, D-Marshall, filed pre-candidacy papers with the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office to form an exploratory committee to run for governor as a Democrat in 2012.
Current Gov. Joe Manchin's term limit will be up that year.
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Sen. Jeff Kessler
"I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of support I get," Kessler said. "But I intend to run, and I intend to win."
Kessler, 53, a Glen Dale resident and Moundsville lawyer, last year was re-elected to a third four-year term in the West Virginia Senate.
He initially was appointed to the Senate in November 1997 to fill a vacancy created by the death of former Sen. Larry Wiedebusch, D-Marshall, and he was elected himself in 2000, 2004 and 2008.
Kessler currently serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee - among the top leadership positions in the Legislature.
"In the past 10 years, there has not been one piece of major legislation that I haven't written, been behind, or been the chief architect of," Kessler said.
He made reference to legislation pertaining to medical malpractice and workers' compensation reform, as well as those involving the establishment of the Promise Scholarship and bringing table games to the Northern Panhandle.
Kessler said he chose to file his candidacy now just as he and other candidates are closing out their 2008 campaign funds.
"You have to file a new committee when you run for governor," he noted. "I initially filed as undeclared, but I decided to make the jump."
Kessler noted his name "had been bandied around" a lot in recent months as a potential gubernatorial candidate, and that he has since received "widespread support" from various groups.
Among those Kessler said have indicated their support for him are coal companies, labor unions, doctors and fellow lawyers.
"I have the support from everyone from the (American Civil Liberties Union) to teachers to preachers," he continued. "Butchers, bakers, candlestick makers - I have a wide ground swell of support. And I think I can do a better job than any other names thrown out."
Kessler believes West Virginia is poised to be one of the fastest-growing states in the union.
"We have the potential to be more than we dream about," he said. "The progress we've made in the last few years is just touching the tip of the iceberg."
He said as governor he would focus on jobs and making sure the state's energy resources are used properly and maximized.
"We have the resources," Kessler said. "They are the lynchpin to our economic survival - both for the region and the state. I want to create wealth for the people of this state."
He isn't interested in returning to the Senate after his current term is completed.
"I have been in the Senate since the beginning of 1998 - and I will have been here nearly 15 years by the end of 2012," Kessler said. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life in the state Senate."
Kessler last year also considered a run for a seat on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, but he said Tuesday that no longer interests him.
"Maybe it is something I would consider in my twilight," he said. "But right now I have more twinkle than twilight."
Kessler and his wife, Gretchen, have four children between them, including two infants.
There have been few statewide office holders to come from the Northern Panhandle.
George Wesley Atkinson of Ohio County was elected governor in 1896, and Glen Dale resident resident Arch A. Moore was elected three times to the office - in 1968, 1972 and in 1984.