"I am seriously thinking about it," Dods, 61, told The Advertiser. "I am talking with my closest and long-standing friends about this."

Dods, chairman and chief executive officer of the state's biggest bank holding company, said he is considering the move because he believes the state and the Democratic Party needs leadership. A decision is expected later this week.

Rumors about Dods' candidacy had been swirling in political circles since Honolulu mayor and former Democratic gubernatorial front-runner Jeremy Harris announced last month that he was withdrawing because polls showed him trailing Republican candidate Linda Lingle and he concluded he couldn't win.

The move by Harris left some concerned that the party disarray could allow the Republicans to win the governor's office for the first time in 40 years.

Political observers said some prominent Democrats have been searching for a strong gubernatorial candidate because they had little confidence that the party's three current candidates ­ D.G. "Andy" Anderson, Ed Case and Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono ­ could prevail in the general election against Lingle.

Some Democrats see Dods as a the Democrats' best chance because he has the ability to raise a lot of money, does not have any political baggage and is highly visible in political, business and the community circles. His business background would also blunt the GOP's standard criticism of Democrats as being anti-business, observers say.

Friends of Dods, a close Democratic Party supporter and fundraiser for decades, said that it is unlikely the Honolulu banker would be talking about running for governor if he was not already planning on it.

"This is way too serious," said Robert Clarke, chairman and chief executive of Hawaiian Electric Industries and a long-time friend of Dods. "I have known Walter (Dods) for 20 years, he is very much a competitor."

Still, there could be obstacles. Dods' family is strongly against him running for governor, and he signed a three-year employment contract just last year with BancWest that could cost him millions of dollars in lost salary and stock options should he be elected governor.

And even if Dods does decide to jump into the race, he will be playing catch-up to other candidates who are already establishing their organizations statewide and running media campaigns. Some said that Dods also doesn't enjoy the name recognition that other candidates have, and he will have to work hard to get his political message to voters who know nothing about what he stands for.

"He is not a household name person ... yet," said University of Hawai'i political science professor Yas Kuroda. "He has the contacts in terms of raising money. I'm sure one of the drawbacks is that he hasn't had any experience in elected politics. But his strength is in the financial support he may be able to garner in a short time."