Madison Mayor Paul Soglin says he'll get in governor's race soon

MADISON — Longtime Democratic Madison Mayor Paul Soglin says he plans to formally launch a run for governor "in a few weeks."

The 72-year-old Soglin posted a plea for help Tuesday on Facebook, asking supporters to spread the word so he could "see the potential of using Facebook" in the campaign. He says that social media "will play an important role."

Soglin has been openly toying with the possibility of running for governor for nearly seven months. Soglin has been Madison's mayor on and off again for 20 years since 1973.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker back in June said he would love a chance to run against Soglin, someone the 50-year-old Walker dismissed as an "unabashed throwback to the 1960s radical liberal."

Soglin was an anti-war protester in the 1960s before being elected mayor.