Eliot Cutler says he’s running for governor in 2014 and plans to make a formal announcement in the fall.

The statement in an interview today on WGAN Morning News was the latest tentative step toward  a formal run for Cutler, an independent from Cape Elizabeth who lost the 2010 race for governor to Republican Paul LePage by fewer than 10,000 votes.

Early polls have suggested LePage would win a three-way race against Cutler and any of the state’s top Democrats.

As with Cutler, LePage has not yet formally announced a candidacy but is widely expected to run for re-election. 

On the Democratic side, Former Democratic Gov. John Baldacci is considering running again, as is U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-2nd District. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, said in April she will not run for governor.

Democrats dismissed Cutler’s statement this morning as premature and “hypothetical.”

“He’s repeatedly qualified his candidacy by saying he would drop out of the race if he can’t win,” Maine Democratic Party Chairman Ben Grant said today.

“Right now, it’s all hypothetical. By the fall, when it’s real, it’s going to be very clear he can’t win,” Grant said, adding: “If Mike Michaud gets into the race, (Cutler) clearly has no pathway to victory.”

Grant said Michaud is still taking “a hard look” at the a potential run.

Maine GOP Chairman Richard M. Cebra also took a swipe at Cutler, saying “it’s no surprise that politician Eliot Cutler is once again trying to fulfill his personal dream of being governor. 

“He has already run to the $4 million home of a liberal Washington D.C. lobbyist to collect campaign cash,” Cebra said. “We know who is pulling politician Eliot Cutler’s strings. Independent is not the right word to describe Eliot Cutler.”