CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Chris Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of President John F. Kennedy, is set to announce as soon as Wednesday his intention to run for governor of Illinois, according to a report by political columnist Michael Sneed of the Chicago Sun-Times. Chris Kennedy, 53, is a former president of Merchandise Mart Properties VNO, -0.13% in Chicago and with his wife Sheila, a native of Illinois, founded a Chicago-based nonprofit food company called Top Box Foods. He's on the board of directors of the politically engaged mutual-fund firm Ariel Investments. He has mulled bids several times in the past and not pulled the trigger. Kennedy is viewed as likely to face several fellow Democrats for the right to face off against Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018.