Missouri Secretary of State Roy Blunt will formally announce his candidacy for governor in a series of news conferences around the state today and Friday.

Blunt will kickoff his first day of announcements at his home town in Strafford. He will also make stops today in Kansas City, Jefferson City and St. Louis, before winding up in Cape Girardeau.

He will hold be at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport at 4:30 p.m. today.

Blunt, who will turn 42 on Friday, served 12 years as Greene County Clerk before winning the secretary of state's office in 1984. He was re-elected in 1988.

By announcing today, Blunt will become the second candidate to formally declare for governor. Another Republican, State Treasurer Wendell Bailey, entered the race in December of 1990.

Attorney General William Webster is also planning to seek the GOP nomination but has not formally announced.

On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Mel Carnahan and St. Louis Mayor Vince Schoemehl have both been actively campaigning for two years but neither has formally announced.

Republican Gov. John Ashcroft is prohibited by the state constitution from seeking a third term.