If elected governor, Republican state Sen. Roy Brown vowed Thursday he would be "a workhorse, not a show horse," a less-than-subtle dig at Democratic incumbent Brian Schweitzer.

Brown, a Billings businessman, drew a crowd in the old Supreme Court chambers of the Capitol as part of a six-city fly-around through Montana. He intends to follow it up later this month with a 50-city, 10-day swing around the state to introduce himself to voters.

"I imagine I might stop at a few doors too," Brown said.

Brown has a reputation as a dogged campaigner in legislative races, someone who knocks on the doors often to meet voters in his district.

"The only way I know how to do it is a lot of hard work," he told reporters after his speech.

Brown told supporters he wanted to answer one question that might be on their minds.

"No, I'm not delusional," he said. "I really believe we can win this race. But I can't do it alone, and I can't do it unless each and every one of you firmly believes we can do this together."

He's the first Republican to enter the race against Schweitzer, whose job-approval ratings in polls are in the mid-60 percent range. Schweitzer already has raised more than $775,000 for his re-election campaign.

Brown has said he hopes to raise $1.6 million or $100 apiece from 16,000 people.

As for a running mate, Brown said he has a few names in mind for his lieutenant governor candidate.

"I want to take my time and get the right person," he said. "I'll pick the best man or best woman for the job."

Brown immediately went after Schweitzer, saying the governor "masterminded the largest spending increase in the history of Montana" by boosting spending by more than 40 percent in 35 months in office.

"What will happen if the economy stumbles just a little and the taxpayer-provided surpluses dry up?" Brown asked, warning that there will be calls for tax increases.

Brown instead pledged to eliminate the property tax on business equipment and pass ongoing, permanent property tax relief for Montanans, not a one-time rebate like Schweitzer did.

In response, Schweitzer disputed Brown's numbers and provided charts showing that his spending hikes were about in the mid-level range of recent Montana governors if spending one-time money and bond issues are excluded. He told how two national bond-ratings agency had upgraded Montana's bond ratings for the first time in 26 years.

"I've cut more taxes than any governor in history," Schweitzer said.

The Democratic governor returned fire by criticizing Brown for a 2003 decision to take money out of the old workers' compensation fund to balance the state general fund budget in the closing days.

That fund now has a $32 million deficit that must be addressed.

It was a calculated risk that didn't pan out, Brown said. However, he said the effort drew bipartisan support, including Schweitzer's Republican lieutenant governor, John Bohlinger, and Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, who served in the state Senate then.

Brown said he tried to reach Schweitzer Monday night to tell the governor he was running so he didn't have to read about it in the newspaper. Schweitzer was unavailable so Brown said he left a telephone message promising to run "a fair and spirited campaign based on the facts without personal attacks."

He was asked by a reporter whether referring to Schweitzer as a show horse amounted to a personal attack.

"I wouldn't call it a personal attack," Brown said. "I think it's fair game."