Beau Biden, current attorney general of Delaware and son of Vice President Joe Biden, announced he is running for governor on Thursday, NBCNews.com reported.
"Over the past few months, as I've been planning to run for reelection, I have also been giving a great deal of thought to running for Governor in 2016. What started as a thought -- a very persistent thought -- has now become a course of action that I wish to pursue," he said in an email to supporters.
"The Office of Attorney General is a four-year commitment. Its responsibilities are too significant, and the voters' trust too important not to give it my complete and undivided attention. It should not be, nor can it become, a two-year staging ground for another elected office."
Delaware's current governor, Democrat Jack Markell, cannot run again due to term limits.
According to Delaware Public Media, Lt. Governor Matt Denn and U.S. Rep. John Carney have also been considered as Democratic candidates for governor.
Prior to his role as lt. governor, Denn served as the state's Insurance Commissioner. In 2008, Carney ran for governor -- after serving as lt. governor for eight years -- but lost in the primary to Markell.
U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) released a statement following Biden's announcement.
"Beau Biden has been an effective Attorney General and I'm sorry to see him leave this critical law enforcement office. He has a lot to offer our state and I think he has a bright future ahead of him," read Coons' brief statement.
Though Biden, 45, has a history of health issues -- suffering a stroke in 2010 and hospitalized in August after feeling "disoriented" -- a neuro-oncologist gave him a "clean bill of health" in November.
