State Treasurer Tim Shallenburger said Thursday that he expects a crowded field with him in the Republican race for governor if Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall drops out.

Shallenburger said he is waiting for Stovall vacationing this week in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to announce her intentions before judging the speculation surrounding her.

Shallenburger said he views Lt. Gov. Gary Sherrer, House Speaker Kent Glasscock and Senate President Dave Kerr as potential candidates for the GOP nomination.

“I still think not everybody is in the race,” Shallenburger said.

Prominent Republicans, including state GOP Chairman Mark Parkinson, say they believe Stovall will leave the race for personal reasons when she returns to Kansas. GOP officials expect an announcement Monday.

Many Republicans see Shallenburger as GOP conservatives’ choice, while moderate leaders had united behind Stovall. Gov. Bill Graves, a moderate, cannot seek a third term under the Kansas Constitution.

Shallenburger and Wichita Mayor Bob Knight still are in the GOP race. Sherrer is considering a run, as is Glasscock, Stovall’s lieutenant governor running mate.

Kerr says he plans to announce his intentions after the Legislature ends its session in May. Sen. David Adkins, of Leawood, now a Republican candidate for attorney general, would not rule out the governor’s race Wednesday.

As the only announced Democratic candidate, Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius is party’s presumed nominee.

Parkinson rated Sebelius the overall front-runner for governor if Stovall drops out, as he expects. “We are now the underdogs in this race,” he said in published reports.

Many GOP moderates argue that as a conservative nominee, Shallenburger would be unable to unite the party, allowing Sebelius to win.

Graves, Parkinson and other prominent moderates met Tuesday evening at Cedar Crest, the governor’s residence, after speculation built that Stovall was reconsidering her campaign.

Parkinson told The Wichita Eagle he wasn’t taking sides in the primary and would try to get Shallenburger or Knight elected.

But Shallenburger said Parkinson is part of a small group of moderates who “are concerned that I am not the kind of Republican they want.”

“I believe that’s not the view of most Republicans,” Shallenburger said Thursday.

He agreed that without Stovall in the race, Sebelius would be the front-runner, based on her two terms as insurance commissioner. Shallenburger is serving his first term as state treasurer, and Stovall is finishing her second as attorney general.

But Shallenburger said the front-runner label is meaningless with nearly five months left before the Aug. 6 primary election.

“Carla did have the best name ID of all of us,” he said.

Shallenburger said that speculation has led some Republicans who wanted to sit out the primary to offer him their help.

“It’s had a very positive effect on us,” he said. “We’d like them to rumble for weeks.”

Glasscock said Wednesday that Stovall has formed a close relationship with agriculture broadcasting executive and personality Larry Steckline, who lives in Garden Plain. Steckline owns the Mid-America Ag News Network, based in Wichita. Steckline, 60, is a widower; Stovall, 45, is divorced.

Republicans have suggested, but have not said specifically, that the relationship has led Stovall to reconsider her campaign.