LANSING – After months of wondering whether their party would be able to mount a credible challenge to Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow in 2012, Republicans exulted Tuesday with the news that former U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra has changed his mind and will run.

No official word came from Hoekstra or anyone on his behalf, but a source familiar with Hoekstra’s decision said he had decided to run and another source said an official announcement would come within 24 hours. That announcement was expected to come in the form of a prepared written statement as opposed to an in-person campaign event.

Word first started to leak last week that Hoekstra was reconsidering his April announcement that he would not run and the situation moved rapidly.

For months, the news out of the Republican Party was more about who would not challenge Stabenow. Hoekstra, former Secretary of State Terri Land, members of the party’s congressional delegation and others all announced they would not run. Even as Stabenow’s polling numbers remained weak (see related story), Republicans glumly wondered if they would miss an opportunity to depose her.

Some lesser-known candidates got in the race like former Kent County Probate Judge Randy Heckman, activist Peter Konetchy and most recently, John McCulloch, the Oakland County water resources commissioner.

Others were still considering the contest, like Clark Durant, a leading charter school organizer, social conservative Gary Glenn and Rob Steele, who lost a challenge to U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Dearborn) in 2010.

“I think Pete Hoekstra’s clearly the front-runner for the GOP nomination and given Hoekstra’s tenacity on the campaign trail coupled with Stabenow’s numbers and complicity with our economic decline she better double-down on her fundraising and get more than $3.5 million in the bank,” said Greg McNeilly, a Republican strategist.

The excitement among GOP activists was palpable. Word of Hoekstra’s decision spread like wildfire on social media.

“There’s a little bit of a sounding of a shofar when you hear or see Pete riding onto the scene,” McNeilly said of the excitement level and referring to the ram’s horn played to mark the Jewish High Holidays. “Politics is often more about timing than any other single thing.”

Durant could not be reached. McCulloch consultant Steve Mitchell said McCulloch had known Hoekstra was likely to run before he announced his bid Friday.

“It doesn’t change our plans at all. John’s been an underdog in every race he’s run,” he said. “John has proven himself to be a very effective fundraiser in his water resources commission account.”

And Mitchell noted Hoekstra spent 18 years in Congress. “Congress has certainly been a part of the problem, and John has a tremendous record of solving problems,” he said.

He also said of Hoekstra’s about-face: “He was out before he was in.”

Sources familiar with Hoekstra’s thinking said the reason for the change had to do with timing. When Hoekstra was first approached about running for the Senate in December and January, he was still just fresh off an exhaustive gubernatorial bid that fell short in the Republican primary. And then there was the gaffe by Republican Party Chair Bobby Schostak in which he told The Detroit News another candidate “head and shoulders” ahead of the potential field, such as Hoekstra, could emerge.

But as time passed and the potential Republican field thinned, Hoekstra’s interest was piqued.

He spent much of the last few days working the phones to ensure strong financial support for his bid. While Stabenow has about $4 million in the bank, how the national political action committees and other off-the-books entities decide to spend can quickly make up for that lead. However, to this point, Michigan has been down the list of potential Republican pick-ups.

There’s still a political eternity though until November 2012 and should Stabenow’s numbers remain bad, and depending on other developments nationally, Michigan could move up in priority quickly.

Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer has repeatedly needled the GOP about Schostak’s “head and shoulders” comment and he was at it again Tuesday.

“Back to Hoekstra?” he said on his Facebook page. “He wasn’t good enough then, but he is now?”

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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