"They surely sacrificed a great deal to share me with you," he tearfully told supporters, extending his hand behind him toward his wife M'Liss, who reached out and briefly clasped his.

Afterward, M'Liss Shurtleff told the Deseret News that her husband told her before they even married that someday he wanted to be a U.S. senator.

"We've got three teenagers still at home. We've had a couple of hard years with my family and deaths, and with his accident," she said, referring to a motorcycle crash that nearly cost the attorney general his leg. "So it's more of, 'Is it the right time?' and I needed to make sure he was OK."

She supports his run, she said, believing that he will win.

News of Shurtleff's announcement became public a week ago, when the attorney general accidentally sent a message to a supporter out to thousands on the Twitter microblogging service. On Wednesday, he re-tweeted his intentions, this time linking to a Web site to solicit campaign donations.

E-MAIL: bwinslow@desnews.com