Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, chair of the powerful Alabama Public Service Commission, is eying a run for Alabama Governor.

On March 1, Cavanaugh filed with the Secretary of State's office to form a Principal Campaign Committee, the first step towards running for the state's top office. Cavanaugh, a Republican, is currently listed as the only member of the committee.

In a comment to AL.com, Cavanaugh said she filed the committee as a "vehicle to plan for a run for governor."

"Stay tuned!" she added.

Cavanaugh is among the first to indicate she plans to run to replace embattled Republican Gov. Robert Bentley. Bentley,

is set to finish his final four-year term in 2018.

Candidates have until Feb. 9, 2018 to qualify with their parties in the governor's race. The 2018 primary will be held June with the general election set for Nov. 6.

The 2018 field will likely be a crowded one for Republicans. State Auditor Jim Zeigler said he's running. Other potential candidates include suspended Chief Justice Roy Moore, Secretary of State John Merrill, Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh and Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle.

Cavanaugh, a graduate of Auburn University, was first elected to the PSC in 2010. In 2012, she unseated incumbent Democrat Lucy Baxley for the post of commission president, running unopposed for reelection in 2016.

In the past, she served as deputy chief of staff senior adviser for former Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and was the first female Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party.

If she is successful in her bid for the governorship, she would become Alabama's second female head of state. Lurleen Burns Wallace, the wife of four-term Gov. George Wallace, was elected the state's 46th governor, serving from January 1967 until her death in May 1968.