West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant (D) is preparing a run for the U.S. Senate.
The Washington Post and WV Metro News report Tennant is expected to announce her plans to run for Senate next week amid a series of campaign stops.
Tennant has been W.Va.'s Secretary of State since 2008. She unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2011, and previously worked as a television anchor and businesswoman.
Tennant is also known for becoming West Virginia University's first female mascot in 1990.
Tennant will likely face off against Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).
UPDATE -- 4:02 p.m.: A spokesman from the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent the following statement on Tennant to HuffPost:
Natalie Tennant is a cookie-cutter liberal more in the mold of Harry Reid than Joe Manchin on issues like coal, energy, the EPA, ObamaCare, abortion and protecting the 2nd Amendment. Strategically, Tennant is great for Republicans in that she's enough of a mirage to keep National Democrats and donors walking through the desert without offering the ability to ever drink. Tennant is far too liberal for West Virginia Senate.
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