Terri Lynn Land

Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land announced Thursday that she is not going to enter the already crowded 2010 race for governor .

The unexpected move by Land — who was widely assumed to be a candidate in the open-seat race — came with another surprise, as she endorsed one of the declared Republican contenders: Michael J. Bouchard , the sheriff of populous Oakland County in suburban Detroit and a former state senator, who was the GOP’s unsuccessful challenger to Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow in 2006.  

Bouchard on June 3 officially launched his campaign for the 2010 contest to choose the successor to two-term Democratic incumbent Jennifer M. Granholm , who is barred from running again under Michigan’s term-limit law.