Madison School Board member Mary Burke might skate toward a primary victory now that Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, announced she won’t seek the Democratic nomination.

But Burke may yet draw a primary opponent. On Monday, Marcia Mercedes Perkins, a 58-year-old private investigator from Milwaukee, filed a declaration of candidacy with the Government Accountability Board.

In an interview, Perkins said she also declared her intention to run for governor in 2010 but couldn’t muster enough signatures to get on the ballot. Candidates need at least 2,000 signatures to qualify.

Perkins, who ran in 2008 for Milwaukee City Council, said she was inspired to run for governor in 2010 when she saw a man eating food out of a trash can. In the past, she said, she has been homeless and unemployed, so she can relate to the struggles of people across the state.

She said if elected, she would donate a third of her salary to help foster care children. Her first priority would be to encourage more communication between young people and the elderly. She said she doesn’t know Burke but is critical of Walker’s rejection of increased federal funding for Medicaid and high-speed rail.