Former Pensacola lawmaker Holly Benson announced her candidacy for Florida Attorney General on Thursday on the steps of the old Escambia County Courthouse.

“At a time when government needs to be at its most effective and responsible, people are deeply troubled that government is even more out of touch, more out of control and is expanding its power while abandoning the principles that make this state and country great,” Benson said to a group of friends, family and local leaders.

Benson, 38, resigned as secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration after serving 18 months to run for attorney general.

Benson said she is committed to strengthening Florida’s economy.

“Florida needs to be a great place to do business,” she said. “Whether it’s by making it easier to incorporate here or making business laws more friendly or reducing regulatory burdens that are driving people out of business.”

She will face Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp in the 2010 Republican primary.

Kottkamp, 48, from Cape Coral, announced his candidacy this summer. He has raised more than $175,000 and has $169,000 on hand in his campaign fund.

“We served together in the Legislature and I have always found her to be a nice and pleasant individual,” Kottkamp said in a statement. “I look forward to a positive issue-oriented primary campaign.”

Dave Aronberg from Greenacres and Dan Gelber from Miami Beach, both state senators, will battle it out in the Democratic primary.

Benson also served as secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation before her appointment to the AHCA. She served Pensacola and Gulf Breeze for six years as a House lawmaker.

“She’s an extraordinary young woman insofar as what she had done in the Legislature and what she’s done running two huge agencies in the state of Florida,” said Mayor Mike Wiggins who attended the announcement.

Holly Benson is daughter to Scott Benson, a local psychiatrist, and Lois Benson, a former Pensacola City Council and House lawmaker, and current member of the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority Board.