By Bob von Sternberg

Just a day after former state Sen. Steve Kelley kicked off his campaign for governor, he received an endorsement today from Fourth Congressional District Rep. Betty McCollum.

Noting that she and Kelley served together in the Minnesota House, McCollum said in a press release that she has "seen him work across the aisle to get the job done and stand up to do what is right," McCollum said.

She also argued that Kelley is the most electable candidate to "reverse the decades-long trend of losing the Governor's race" -- which the DFL candidate has done since 1990.

Kelley, who ran for governor, then attorney general in 2006 and for the U.S. Senate in 2000, has joined a crowded field of nearly two dozen Democratic and Republican gubernatorial candidates in the open race to replace Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.