Michigan Republicans sense a prime opportunity to take back their state governor's seat in 2010, after two terms with Democrat Jennifer M. Granholm. But the state party is far from unified over who their best candidate is to take on likely Democratic nominee John Cherry.

Two polls released last week -- one by non-partisan Inside Michigan Politics and by GOP firm Mitchell Research & Communications Inc. -- showed state Attorney General Mike Cox continues to lead a crowded Republican primary field, with U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra not far behind. Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, technology entrepreneur Rick Snyder and state Sen. Tom George are also in the mix. None of the candidates topped 30 percent, however.

The poll for the newsletter Inside Michigan Politics found that a quarter of likely Republican voters were undecided and the Mitchell Research poll found nearly a third were unsure.

Cox and Bouchard lead Cherry in head-to-head match-ups, the two polls show.

After much public consideration, Republican state Sen. Gilbert Baker announced his Senate candidacy Tuesday, adding his name to the growing roster of those hoping to unseat Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln.

"After encouragement from people all across the state, and with the support of my family and close friends, I have decided that during this important time in our nation's history, one should not be a political spectator." Baker said in a statement. "I believe that Arkansas' next United States senator should help provide checks and balances on the policies being pushed by President Obama and the D.C. leadership."

Republicans believe Lincoln is vulnerable in 2010 because state voters will reject her support for Democratic policies and her ideology.

Maybe he will, maybe he won't (run, that is) -- but Arkansas state Sen. Bob Johnson's announcement that he is mulling a Democratic primary challenge to U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln is an indication that even members of Lincoln's own party view her as a potential target in 2010.

Johnson announced Friday that he is considering a 2010 bid for Lincoln's seat, according to the Arkansas News Bureau and Associated Press. Johnson said he has been encouraged to run and indicated that he would position himself as a conservative Democrat in the race.

In Republican eyes, Lincoln is already a target.

Rick Snyder, a technology industry veteran from Ann Arbor, officially kicked off a dark-horse bid in the crowded 2010 Republican primary for governor, and set off on a four-day announcement tour across the state.

Snyder's bid to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm is his first campaign for public office, and he is framing himself as a political outsider.

A former president and chief operating officer of computer company Gateway Inc., Snyder contends his business and high-tech background makes him the candidate who is best able to re-energize the recession-plagued state's economy and repair the low opinion most Michigan voters currently have of their state government in Lansing.

Snyder sought to link himself to the legacy of inventor Thomas A. Edison during his announcement speech at Greenfield Village, part of the Henry Ford Museum in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn. His event was held at Edison's Menlo Park, N.J., laboratory, relocated to the museum, which "embodies the inventive spirit we need to embrace," Snyder said in a statement.

State Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith confirmed Friday that, as expected, she is joining the crowded 2010 race for governor of Michigan. She previously staged a short-lived bid for the same office in 2002.

Smith, whose state House district includes the eastern Michigan city of Ypsilanti, is the third Democrat to enter the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm. She joins Lt. Gov. John Cherry and George Perles, a former head football coach at Michigan State University and now an elected trustee of that school who has publicly stated he plans to run.

Cherry is considered the early favorite for the Democratic nomination, having served alongside Granholm for both her two terms.

Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land announced Thursday that she is not going to enter the already crowded 2010 race for governor.

The unexpected move by Land -- who was widely assumed to be a candidate in the open-seat race -- came with another surprise, as she endorsed one of the declared Republican contenders: Michael J. Bouchard, the sheriff of populous Oakland County in suburban Detroit and a former state senator, who was the GOP's unsuccessful challenger to Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow in 2006.

Bouchard on June 3 officially launched his campaign for the 2010 contest to choose the successor to two-term Democratic incumbent Jennifer M. Granholm, who is barred from running again under Michigan's term-limit law.

George Perles, a former Michigan State University (MSU) football coach and athletic director, told the Detroit Free Press he plans to run for governor as a Democrat in 2010.

Perles' election as an MSU trustee by state voters in 2006 was his only previous campaign for public office, but he told the paper he believes his public prominence in the sports-mad state can help him in an election. "Name recognition is a big thing," said Perles, who turns 75 years old on July 16. "You get attention in both the political pages of the newspaper and the sports pages. It's a unique situation."

Perles certainly has plenty of football credentials. After his career as an MSU player was cut short by injury, Perles served as an assistant coach from 1959 to 1970, a period that included the Spartans' championship era in the mid-1960s. He segued to more than a decade as an assistant coach of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers during their Super Bowl glory days.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox officially launched a long-expected 2010 bid for governor Wednesday. The suburban Detroit Republican, who has been exploring the race since November, told supporters that he was "ready to lead the fight for Michigan's future."

"As a Marine, prosecutor, and Attorney General, I have spent my life fighting for the people of Michigan," Cox said in a release. "I will be a governor who is willing to make the tough decisions to help grow Michigan's economy."

The economy clearly will be the top issue in next year's race to succeed term-limited Democrat Jennifer M. Granholm, who was elected in 2002 and 2006. Staggered especially by the sharp downturn in its crucial automobile industry, Michigan led all states with a 12.7 percent unemployment rate in April.

Cox joins a crowded field of Republican hopefuls looking to reclaim the seat after eight years of Democratic control under Granholm, who was preceded in the seat by Republican John Engler.