WETUMPKA, Ala. — An Alabama businesswoman who served as former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Slovenia on Tuesday became the third Republican candidate to announce a run against Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey in the gubernatorial primary next year.

Formally declaring her intention to leave the U.S. Senate race and make a bid for governor, Lynda Blanchard, who goes by Lindy Blanchard, said she was running because “people made it unmistakably clear to me that they wanted a conservative outsider, not just in (Washington) D.C. but ... here in Montgomery, a leader who will run our state boldly; someone who is there to put the interest of the people first.”

Blanchard and her husband, John Blanchard, co-founded B&M Management, a commercial real estate company that has apartment complexes throughout the South.

Toll road developer Tim James and former Morgan County Commissioner Stacy George have also announced their candidacies against Ivey.