A vocal supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersThe Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power Bernie Sanders: 'This is an election between Donald Trump and democracy' The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump stokes fears over November election outcome MORE’s (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential campaign plans on announcing his candidacy for Maryland governor this week.

Ben Jealous, who is also the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's (NAACP) former president, told The Baltimore Sun Tuesday that he would seek the Democratic nomination for Maryland’s governor’s office.

“I spent my life literally as a community organizer, civil rights leader, serving people in their own communities on their own terms, pulling them together to solve big problems,” he said.

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Jealous said that he would begin his first bid for public office Wednesday outside a cousin’s flower shop in West Baltimore.

The civil rights leader also criticized Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) for not standing up to President Trump’s administration.

“[Hogan] may have strength, but he lacks courage,” he said of Hogan, who is expected to try becoming Maryland’s first two-term GOP governor since the 1950s.

“The leadership of the governor of Maryland should reflect the will of the majority of our people. The leader of our state has stood silent and through this he has given consent.”

Jealous was elected president of the Baltimore-based NAACP in 2008 at age 35, making him the youngest person to ever lead the civil rights organization.

The Sun reported that he is the second Democrat to formally announce his candidacy after high-tech entrepreneur and author Alec Ross. Several Democrats are either expected to join the race in Maryland soon, it reported, or are considering their own bids.

The Sun listed former Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, Rep. John Delaney and Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz as some possibilities.

Other possible contenders reportedly include Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker, state Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. and Baltimore lawyer James L. Shea.