Utah State Senator Jim Dabakis on Monday announced his bid to run Salt Lake City.

“I am running for mayor of Salt Lake City!” Dabakis said in an email to supporters. “I believe our Capitol City is on the edge of greatness. I believe, working together with our citizens, I have the management skills, energy, and vision to help get Salt Lake to the top tier of American cities!”

Dabakis, a former local talk-radio and TV host, co-founded Equality Utah and the Utah Pride Center.

In his announcement, Dabakis said the mayor “needs a big heart” and “is the ambassador of the city to the rest of the state and the world.”

“There will be no end of my energy in promoting our dazzling city,” he said.

Dabakis married husband Stephen Justeson in a ceremony conducted by Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker on December 20, 2013, just hours after a federal judge struck down Utah's gay marriage ban as unconstitutional.