The Democratic field for Ohio governor gained its third candidate today as former state Rep. Connie Pillich declared she will seek the party’s nomination in 2018.

It will mark the second statewide run for Pillich, a lawyer and former Air Force captain who served three terms in the Ohio House. She ran for treasurer in 2014, losing to Republican Josh Mandel.

Two other Democrats -- Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni, of the Youngstown area, and former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, of the Akron area -- also have announced their candidacies for governor.

"I learned in military you walk into every mission ready to succeed and I'm ready to win this race," Pillich told The Dispatch, stressing she is the only Democratic candidate with statewide campaign experience. "I understand how to put the race together."

Pillich said jobs and education would be her highest priorities as governor. "Everybody across Ohio is hurting and we've lost so many jobs to unfair foreign trade, automation and Wall Street greed."

"It's terribly disappointing to see our education system outsourced to corporations," she said of for-profit charter school chains. "Young people are leaving because they don't see any opportunity here. I see an Ohio where every child has a chance for a great education" and good-paying jobs, Pillich said.

"We have every tool we need in Ohio, we just need the right leadership to bring that vision to fruition."

The Republicans face an equally crowded race for governor.

Attorney General Mike DeWine, Secretary of State of Jon Husted and U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, of Wadsworth, are in the mix to join Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor as announced candidates for the Republican nomination to succeed John Kasich.

Pillich, 56, who lives in the Cincinnati suburb of Montgomery, served in Berlin and in support of Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield as an Air Force communications specialist and then obtained her legal degree, serving as a public defender and in private practice. She served three terms in the Ohio House beginning in 2009.

Democrats could yet face another option in the gubernatorial field.

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley is considered a potential candidate and some are attempting to draft former Ohio attorney general and treasurer Rich Cordray.

Cordray cannot run as long as he remains director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but President Donald Trump and Republicans have talked of seeking to oust him.