Republican Rep. Peter Hoekstra on Monday officially entered the Michigan governor’s race, the latest candidate seeking to put the office in the GOP column.

“We need to begin the process of rebuilding a strong Michigan: creating good jobs, promoting strong businesses and driving meaningful and measurable results,” Hoekstra said at a rally on the grounds of Inland Pipe Rehabilitation in Detroit.

He will continue the campaign roll-out across the state with stops in the suburban Detroit counties of Macomb and Oakland, and the state capital of Lansing, ending in his hometown of Holland on the western edge of the state.

The nine-term congressman has been mulling the race for months and announced in December that he would not defend his 2nd District House seat in 2010.

Democratic Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm is prevented by term limits from running again.

A poll conducted by Inside Michigan Politics March 4 through 10 showed Hoekstra in the thick of the race for the GOP nomination.

Out of a field of five likely candidates, he came in second among possible Republican voters with 17 percent of vote. Oakland County Executive and veteran Republican politician L. Brooks Patterson led with 22 percent, while Attorney General Mike Cox garnered 15 percent, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land received 12 percent, and state Sen. Tom George 4 percent. Thirty-two percent of possible voters remained undecided.

The list of Republican hopefuls doesn’t end there. Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder announced March 19 that he was forming an exploratory committee for a gubernatorial run. Rep. Candice S. Miller of the 10th District, Domino’s Pizza CEO David Brandon, and Oakland County Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard, are also rumored to be interested.

Eight years of economic turmoil under Granholm have given Republicans an opening in the race.

The Democrats’ lead contender for the nomination is Lt. Gov. John Cherry, but he is closely tied to Granholm and her policies, which could hurt him with voters looking for a change.

The Inside Michigan Politics poll showed Cherry trailing Cox, Patterson and Land, though all by single digits.

The economy is likely to be the dominant issue and Hoekstra took pains in his announcement to paint himself as a champion for job creation.

“We will create new opportunities to not only keep our family members, friends, neighbors and our great businesses here at home in Michigan, but attract new companies and residents to our great state,” he pledged.