George Brauchler, the prosecutor of the Aurora theater shooter, will announce his bid for Colorado governor Wednesday, entering as the early Republican front-runner in the high-stakes 2018 race.

“Everything important in my life is here in this state … and what I see is a state that is in need of leadership,” he told The Denver Post before his announcement. “I think I can provide that leadership — not just for now, but for the future.”

The 18th Judicial District attorney named education and transportation as his top two issues, and he emphasized his military and public safety experience as qualifications for the job.

“There isn’t an issue out there I can think of that I don’t deal with every day,” he said, noting that his jurisdiction is the largest in the state. “But on top of that, I bring a different level of leadership. I’m not a career politician.”

Brauchler, 47, is the most high-profile candidate to date to join the campaign to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper.

The contest is expected to become crowded, with another top Republican, two-term state Treasurer Walker Stapleton, looking to make a run — a possibility that pushed Brauchler to announce his intentions sooner rather than later.

Positioning himself as one of the more conservative candidates in the race, Brauchler said he plans to seek a slot on the primary ballot through a nomination at the Republican Party’s convention, rather than collect petition signatures to qualify.

The political gamble is paired with a not-so-subtle dig at his expected rivals. “Every single one of them is a potential self-funder or has long family connections to politics. I’m not that guy,” he said without noting Stapleton’s ties to the Bush family. “I’m the guy who has spent his entire life in Colorado, and I’m going to get around this state and win it through the grassroots effort.”

Colorado pollster Floyd Ciruli said the governor’s race is a major test for the Republican Party. The GOP has claimed state’s top job only twice since the 1974 election and watched Democrat Hillary Clinton take the state in 2016.

The potential for an equally messy Democratic primary, he said, is “a real opportunity for them … which makes the Republicans’ selection very important.”

“If they can manage to have this primary and come out of it unitable. And if the ultimate winner is a person who can both lead the party and hold it together, that will … give them a very good chance of mounting a very strong race,” Ciruli said.

Greg Brophy, a former state senator and Brauchler ally, expects him to emerge from the pack.

“Everybody who meets him likes him, and that’s what it takes to win,” said Brophy, who lost a 2014 GOP bid for governor. “I see him as a conservative who can win” in November.

Charismatic and sometimes brash, Brauchler grew up in Lakewood and now lives in Parker with his wife and four children, ages 14, 12, 9 and 7.

He won his first race for district attorney in 2012 and boosted his profile months later as a strong critic of Hickenlooper’s decision to grant convicted killer Nathan Dunlap a temporary reprieve from the death penalty.

In a recent speech, Brauchler said if he is elected governor he will put Dunlap’s execution back on the calendar on “Day 1.”

“What I’m going to do is put force behind that decision by the court, by that jury, and we’re going to make something legitimate of the rule of law here in this state,” he explained in the interview

His prosecution of Aurora theater shooter James Holmes once again put him in the spotlight a year into his term. He asked for the death penalty, but the jury returned a sentence for life in prison without parole — the same outcome Holmes’ attorneys offered as a plea deal before the trial.

Brauchler said he plans to remain in his position as district attorney while campaigning for governor and dismissed concerns about conflicts, saying his job would come first.

He seriously considered a bid for governor in 2014 and later the U.S. Senate in 2016 but demurred both times, citing work and family commitments.

The campaign may prove tougher this time, said Republican pollster David Flaherty, given the distractions in Washington and President Donald Trump.

“It’s going to be extremely difficult for any Republican to win in 2018,” Flaherty said. “The failure of health care, the failure to govern, a White House adrift — these things all add up. The cornerstone has been laid for a big Democratic year.”

Brauchler said he voted for Trump — unlike a lesser-known candidate in the race, Victor Mitchell, a former state lawmaker who has pledged to put $3 million into his campaign.

On Trump’s job performance to date, Brauchler said, “There is plenty of good that he has done.” But added that “there’s plenty of distractions made by some missteps and certainly the way things get spun both by him and by the media.”

Brauchler promised to defend Colorado from federal overreach — including the state’s recreational marijuana laws, despite his opposition to the legalization.

“I think what this state wants is to have a governor who will stand up to Washington, D.C., and allow us to be more in charge of us and not be so impacted day-in and day-out by bureaucrats and politicians that don’t live here,” he said.

In terms of this campaign agenda, Brauchler didn’t offer many specifics. But he made clear he is “strongly opposed” to the bipartisan legislative proposal for a statewide sales tax hike to raise money for $3.5 billion in road projects. He prefers a bond on the current gas tax collections — money the state’s transportation department said is needed for existing road maintenance.

When it comes to finding money to invest in schools, Brauchler suggested rising health care costs are crowding out other priorities. He expressed interest to charging co-pays to low-income residents on Medicaid, as well as looking at reducing eligibility limits, which could leave some uninsured.