Bob Ehrlich makes it official on Wednesday.

The former Maryland governor, defeated for re-election four years ago by Martin O'Malley (D), is back for more, and will kick off his campaign in vote-rich D.C. suburbs of Montgomery County.

Ehrlich, the first Republican to win the governorship since Spiro Agnew in 1966, will have an uphill battle in his bid to wrest the job back from O'Malley. The record of a defeated governor vanquishing his rival in the next go around is rare though not unheard of — witness Bill Clements (R) vs. Mark White (D) in Texas, Bill Clinton (D) vs. Frank White (R) in Arkansas, and Michael Dukakis (D) vs. Ed King (D) in Massachusetts, among other instances.

Ehrlich is also not the only former governor seeking redemption this year.

Roy Barnes, a Georgia Democrat ousted from office by Sonny Perdue (R) eight years ago, is running again in the July 20 primary in the race to succeed the term-limited Perdue. Iowa's Terry Branstad retired in 1998 after four terms but is seeking a comeback in the June 8 GOP primary to face Gov. Chet Culver (D). In Oregon, John Kitzhaber (D), who served two terms from 1995-2002, is running again. He faces a Democratic primary field on May 18 in his bid to succeed term-limited Democrat Ted Kulongoski.

And in California, Jerry Brown — first elected to the governorship in 1974 and re-elected four years later — is also running again. If victorious in November, Brown, once the state's youngest governor, would become its oldest as well.

Tags: On The Ballot