Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell of Bossier Parish is announcing today he is running for governor.
Campbell has scheduled announcements around the state today and Tuesday. He has scheduled an announcement here at 3:30 p.m. today.
Campbell's main campaign planks are eliminating Louisiana's income tax and replacing the severance tax on oil and gas with a petroleum processing fee.
He said the petroleum processing fee would bring in $5.5 billion, while eliminating the income tax would return more than $2.5 billion a year to Louisiana residents and another $500 million to businesses.
The severance tax brings in about $693 million a year. Campbell said his plan would increase total revenue more than $1.7 billion, putting $1 billion of that into wetlands restoration and the rest into health care, highways and other serious problems.
Campbell, a Democrat from Elm Grove, was a state senator from 1976-03 when he took over the north Louisiana PSC district after defeating incumbent Don Owen of Shreveport.
Campbell is among a half-dozen challengers so far to Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who has said she is running for re-election.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report)