FLORENCE - After months of talking about it and even saying he was going to do it, Dr. Oscar Lovelace officially announced that he'll run against Gov. Mark Sanford.

The Lake Murray physician is the only Republican to challenge the incumbent governor for his party's nomination in the 2006 general election. Lovelace traveled the state to make the announcement in six cities, including Florence.

Saying he supported Sanford in 2002 and gave to his campaign, Love-lace's disappointment in Sanford's leadership led him to the decision to run against him.

Lovelace took a stab at Sanford's plan to give tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools, a plan widely criticized as a school voucher program disguised as a tax credit.

"I am a strong supporter of public education; Mark Sanford is not," he told the group of three supporters and two reporters gathered at his press conference at Florence Regional Airport.

"Public education is the key to a knowledge-based economy," Lovelace said.

If elected governor, Lovelace said, he would work with the General Assembly to improve health care and lower its cost, and work to reduce property tax rates in the state. He said under his plan, property taxes would be reduced and the state's cigarette tax would be increased to the national average to make up the difference in revenue.

Sanford has had an increasingly tenuous relationship with the Statehouse, which Lovelace said has kept him from getting things done. He said the friction between Sanford and the legislature has hurt South Carolina's efforts to recruit industry.

But Lovelace's campaign will be an uphill battle, and he knows it. The governor has collected about $4 million in campaign contributions. Lovelace said he expects to have about $100,000 by the end of September.

"Clearly the party leadership would like for it to be a quiet re-election," Lovelace said. "But I've found a lot of support from Republicans around the state who are disappointed in the governor's leadership."

Two Democrats have filed to run in their party's primary, Sen. Tommy Moore of Clearwater and Florence Mayor Frank Willis.

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