City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle yesterday said he intends to run for mayor the next time there's a vacancy, be it 2010 or 2012.

So if Mayor Mufi Hannemann resigns to run for governor as is widely speculated, Carlisle will resign as prosecutor to run for mayor. But if Hannemann chooses to finish out his four-year term, Carlisle will run in 2012.

"It is my intention to run for mayor when it is vacated by Mayor Hannemann," Carlisle told reporters yesterday at a news conference just outside the lobby of Alii Plaza, home of the prosecutor's office.

Hannemann has announced that he has formed a committee to explore a run for the open governor's seat next year and it's anticipated that he will make the run. Carlisle's current term as prosecutor runs through January 2013 so he would have to resign to run for mayor.

Carlisle would have to be considered at least one of the early favorites. Elected four times by O'ahu voters to Honolulu prosecutor and now in his 13th year, he has considerable name recognition to go with an established and battle-tested islandwide campaign team.

By announcing his intentions early, Carlisle also places himself in a good position to be ahead of the pack in terms of campaigning, fundraising and drawing endorsements and supporters.

Carlisle, 56, touted his "elective executive experience" as a reason O'ahu voters should consider him.

He said he never considered running for mayor "until it suddenly dawned on me ... really, there are only two elected executive officials in the city, one is the prosecutor and one is the mayor. And a lot of the issues are the same."

Carlisle said he also feels comfortable leaving the prosecutor's office with crime rates, he said, at the lowest they've ever been.

"The time has come," he said. "Since the office has good people right now and is running well, it's time for me to let the next generation step over."

Asked about the city's controversial multibillion-dollar mass-transit project, Carlisle said he supports moving forward with a "steel wheel on steel rail system" as approved by O'ahu voters in a recent city Charter vote. Carlisle said he also supports starting the rail line in West O'ahu as "a matter of equity" since both East Honolulu and Windward O'ahu residents have seen substantial drive-time improvements in recent years. The traffic is also worse there, he said.

Carlisle has previously been associated with the Republican Party. All elected city seats are nonpartisan and Carlisle yesterday said he has been nonpartisan as prosecutor and would continue to be so as mayor.

A deputy prosecutor for 10 years, Carlisle was first elected in 1996. He ran unopposed last year for a term that ends in January 2013. He last faced an opponent in 2004, when former Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro challenged him. Carlisle won with almost 108,000 votes, or nearly 64 percent of those cast, to Kaneshiro's almost 64,000 votes, or 36 percent. In 2008, Carlisle received nearly 125,000 votes.

Other people who have said they would consider a run for mayor should Hannemann resign are City Council Chairman Todd Apo and city Managing Director Kirk Caldwell, who serves as the mayor's second-in-command. Apo has said he is still discussing the issue with his family and exploring his possibilities. Caldwell has said it's premature to discuss the point although he feels he's getting the experience that would be necessary to become a mayor.

University of Hawai'i professor Panos Prevedouros, who finished third against Hannemann last year, may also decide to run.

Former Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, the second-place finisher to Hannemann last year, is a candidate for the City Council 5th District seat vacated by the death of Councilman Duke Bainum, a seat she held before Bainum. Kobayashi has been emphatic that she has no plans to run for mayor.