Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) will eschew reelection to Congress in 2010, instead seeking to run for the governorship of Alabama.
Aides to Davis told the Birmingham News that the 41-year-old Davis will seek to become the first black governor of one of the last bastions of the Old South, where remnants of Jim Crow persisted deep into the 20th Century.
Davis will announce his candidacy Friday in his Birmingham district, and is the first Democratic candidate to have announced their candidacy for the job.
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley (R), who is term-limited, won reelection against Democrat Lucy Baxley by a 16 percent margin in 2006.