 Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced Thursday he will run for his old job, ending months of speculation about a return to politics following his short-lived 2012 presidential campaign. Pawlenty joined the race via a two-minute campaign video. The two-term Republican governor had been inching toward a run for months, quitting his Washington lobbying job and filing a campaign committee so he could begin fundraising. My top priority will be to put those in the middle who are working hard and getting squeezed first. It starts with good schools and a good education. They lead to good jobs. Pawlenty was treated as a presumptive GOP front-runner by both parties well before today. His shadow kept big-money donors on the sidelines for months, making it difficult for Republicans already in the race to build their campaigns, and Democrat-allied groups started to attack Pawlenty while he was still publicly flirting with a bid.