State Rep. Herb Clark (D-Millinocket), who is running for his 11th term in the Legislature, has thrown his hat in the ring to be the House assistant majority leader.

Also running are Reps. Seth Berry (D-Bowdoinham), Cynthia Dill (D-Cape Elizabeth) and Don Pilon (D-Saco).

In a statement, Clark said many members of the Democratic caucus came to him and asked him to run. He promised to put the caucus first, and not use the role as a “stepping stone”.

He wrote:

“I have served 20 years in the Maine Legislature and I want to share with our caucus the experience and leadership that I can bring to the caucus. One thing we need to do is not put the cart before the horse we need to get ourselves elected first and maintain a strong Majority than we can focus on leadership. One thing that I have learned in serving in the Maine Legislature is that you do not commit too early with so many good potential candidates, no one should be locked out. We should let the election process go forward.”