In an email and on Twitter, Republican Scott Honour said he would run for governor.

Honour, a businessman and venture capitalist, is the first high-profile candidate to formally jump into the race against DFL Gov. Mark Dayton.

"I love Minnesota. But I fear that our state is headed in the wrong direction, and under the wrong leadership. I know that the same people with the same political resumes are not going to solve our problems," Honour said in a mass email. Honour has not run for any major political office before in Minnesota and several Republicans have said they may be interesting in challenging Dayton as well.

Along with announcing his intent to run through an email and a tweet, Honour, of Wayzata, also registered a campaign committee with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board on Wednesday.

Honour has been frequently sighted at Republican events of late. In the last two years, Honour contributed about $90,000 to federal Republican causes and candidates, including $30,000 to the National Republican Committee. He also gave $5,000 to U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann's state-based political action committee and $7,000 to the Freedom Club, which supported Republican candidates running for the Legislature.