KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Undaunted by the odds, State Auditor Claire McCaskill on Monday said she will seek next year's Democratic nomination for governor and try to deny Gov. Bob Holden a chance at a second term in office.

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McCaskill Announces Bid For Governor's Seat

At a news conference Monday morning in Kansas City, McCaskill made official what had seemed increasingly certain in recent months -- she will run against Holden in the Democratic primary in August 2004.

"This is about the people of Missouri. It's not about the party bosses, it's not about the union leaders, it's not about elected officials. It's about real folks," McCaskill said on KMBC's "This Week In Kansas City."

After making the initial announcement at the Jackson County Courthouse, where she served as county prosecutor from 1993 until being elected state auditor in 1998, McCaskill headed to Columbia and St. Louis where she planned other news conferences.

Her entry in the Democratic race makes Holden just the second incumbent governor to face a significant primary challenge since Missouri first allowed governors to run for second terms in the mid-1960s. In 1980, Gov. Joseph Teasdale overcame a bitter battle in the Democratic primary, then lost that November to Republican Kit Bond.

Some Democrats have said they hoped McCaskill, 50, would refrain from running against Holden, fearing that whoever won the primary would be drained financially and weakened politically heading into the general election campaign.

But others worried that the Democratic hold on the governorship next year was already threatened by the poor economy, the state's budget troubles and Holden's owned mixed fortunes with the Republican-controlled Legislature.

When asked if she would run a negative campaign against Holden, McCaskill said she was "not interested in attacking anyone."