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Report: Lt. Gov. Guadagno Expected to Formally Launch Governor Campaign

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP)—New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno is expected to formally launch her campaign for governor on Tuesday, sources tell The Record.

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno filed the documents last week with the Election Law Enforcement Commission to run in the Republican primary, ELEC spokesman Scott Miccio said.

Guadagno is the state's first lieutenant governor, elected with Christie in 2009 and re-elected in 2013.

The Record says, Guadagno is expected to declare her campaign for governor around 11 a.m. at a restaurant in Keansburg.

Guadagno is an attorney who served as a federal prosecutor in New York and later moved to New Jersey, where she served as Monmouth County sheriff.

She enters the race having served as an ally of the governor, who is deeply unpopular in New Jersey at the moment. But they have had their disagreements, and the federal trial in the George Washington Bridge scandal last year cast light on more stressful points in their relationship.

Among her top duties over the last seven years has been working with businesses to stay in New Jersey, including heading up a commission aimed at cutting regulations. She's well-known in the state's business community for her accessibility, regularly handing out her cellphone number.

She also served as acting governor while Christie increasingly traveled out of state, first as chairman of the Republican Governors Association in 2014, then as a presidential candidate in 2015.

She joins Republican Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, among others, competing in the June 6 primary. Ciattarelli announced Thursday that he is undergoing treatment for cancer in his neck and is scaling back his campaign. He said that he plans to resume campaigning full time in February and that there is a good chance he will beat the cancer.

Democrats running include former Goldman Sachs executive Phil Murphy, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, state Sen. Ray Lesniak and former Clinton administration treasury official Jim Johnson.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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