VALPARAISO, Ind. — Lake County Sheriff Rogelio Dominguez says he wants to run for governor in 2012, and plans to discuss the idea soon with Democratic Party leaders.

Dominguez told a gathering of Valparaiso University law students Friday that when his second and final term as sheriff is up he hopes to run for governor.

After his speech, Dominguez said he had discussed with his family a possible gubernatorial run and had been going around the state talking with people, but insisted that he wasn’t making a formal announcement.

“I’m still exploring the idea,” he said. “I’ll be announcing here in the near future what my next step is.”

However, Dominguez said he doesn’t see anything that will stop him. “I would continue to pursue my hopes and dreams, and being governor is one of those,” he said.

The next step before forming a formal exploratory committee is a “listening tour,” Dominguez said. He wants to continue talking with people and seeing what’s important and he wants to meet party leaders and see if they’d support him.

“If you’re serious about running and winning, you have to start early,” he said.

Before he became sheriff, Dominguez, a former state trooper, served as chairman of the Workers Compensation Board of Indiana under Gov. Evan Bayh.

Dominguez said that as the first Hispanic state trooper candidate, he’d been told he was in because standards were lowered, but he graduated at the top of his class.

The students who attended Dominguez’s speech were optimistic about his possible bid for governor, nothing that if he runs and is elected, he would be Indiana’s first Hispanic governor.

Hugo Gamez, the president of the Hispanic Law Student Association, said, “this country has seen a lot of changes, and we’ve seen it in the White House. It’s time to bring it home.”

Dominguez said that in the 2012 election, there will be a vacancy in the governor’s office as Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels finishes out his second and final term.

He said there are also questions whether Republican U.S. Sen. Richard G. Lugar intends to run again and President Barack Obama will be up for a second term.

“Indiana will be a real key state in many respects,” he said.