As a staunch supporter of the Tea Party movement, Mathia said she felt running for governor was the best way to help Michigan and the U.S.

“I didn’t just want to see our country destroyed before our eyes,” she said.

As governor, her top concern is restoring state sovereignty promised in the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Mathia said.

“My first priority, when inaugurated, is to have state sovereignty, because the federal government, they passed cap and trade, and then health care, and we would like to be a sovereign state,” Mathia said.

In addition, Mathia said she is concerned about upholding other portions of the U.S. Constitution, including the 2nd Amendment, which assures citizens’ right to bear arms.

“A lot of people I know have been affected by people taking their guns away,” Mathia said. “We have the right to bear arms, and it should not be infringed on.”

Originally from Bay City, Mich., Mathia worked as a sales manager at Younkers before she got married. She has spent the last 13 years homeschooling her children. Mathia said she never had a chance to attend college because when she graduated from high school, she spent five years caring for her niece.

“I am actually self-educated,” she said. “Every time I needed to learn something, I would just pick up a book and read.”

Although her political experience is limited, Mathia said she is not concerned.

“I was always involved in local politics in my community,” she said. “I have a lot of experience and I’ve helped a lot of people get elected. But it’s time, and our country’s at stake.”

Since Mathia is the sole candidate endorsed by her party, she has until Aug. 3 to declare her candidacy and still appear on the November general election ballot.

Although Mathia might garner some votes, she will not have any effect on the general gubernatorial election, said Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of political newsletter “Inside Michigan Politics.”

“You would have to have something so spectacularly close between the Republicans and Democratic nominees,” Ballenger said. “It would have to be decided by record narrow margins (for Mathia to have an effect).”

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, one of the Republican candidates who could lose votes to Mathia in the November election, is not concerned about Mathia’s opposition, Hoekstra’s spokesman John Truscott said.

“I wouldn’t be concerned, because Pete Hoekstra’s candidacy is very pro-taxpayer,” Truscott said. “So I would not be concerned about a third party.”