OLYMPIA — Safeco CEO Mike McGavick yesterday announced he is giving up his job, which last year paid $7.3 million in salary, bonuses and stock awards — the clearest indication yet that he plans to run against U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell in next year's election.

As he has for the past several weeks, McGavick dodged questions about his political plans. "I'm going to explore the possibility that my future work could be in public service rather than corporate work," McGavick said in a telephone interview yesterday.

He scheduled a news conference for noon today in Seattle. According to an announcement sent to reporters, McGavick will "discuss his motivation for exploring a run for the U.S. Senate in 2006."

Some Republican leaders have been saying for weeks that if Dino Rossi decided not to challenge Cantwell, McGavick would be their next choice. Rossi, who barely lost last year's governor's race, announced last week he will not take on Cantwell.

Former U.S. Rep. Jennifer Dunn said she did not know whether McGavick has made a final decision to run for the Senate. But after yesterday's announcement that he is quitting Safeco, the former Republican congresswoman said, "I think you can assume that's the direction he's going. We'll see what comes out in the next few days."

Democratic Party leaders assume the Safeco executive is running and already are honing their anti-McGavick message.

"I don't think the voters in the state of Washington are going to take well to someone who made millions of dollars as an insurance executive while their insurance rates were skyrocketing," said state Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt.

McGavick, 47, has run Safeco since 2001 and was widely credited with orchestrating the company's recent financial turnaround. But many of McGavick's deepest roots are in politics.

His father, Joe, served in the state Legislature, where he represented Seattle's Wallingford and Fremont neighborhoods as a Republican. As a teenager, McGavick volunteered for one of Slade Gorton's campaigns for state attorney general and later went to work for Gorton after he was elected to the U.S. Senate.

In politics, McGavick is best known for managing Gorton's 1988 Senate campaign. Gorton had lost his Senate seat two years earlier but came back to beat Democrat Mike Lowry.

Several other Republicans have indicated they are considering running for Senate next year, including former federal prosecutor Diane Tebelius and state Sen. Linda Evans Parlette, R-Wenatchee.

Former U.S. Rep. Rick White, who unseated Cantwell in a 1994 House race, also has been named as a possible candidate. But he told The Associated Press yesterday that he'd decided not to run.

State Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance said he hopes the party will avoid a primary battle.

"It's still a fluid situation," Vance said. "We have not united yet behind one candidate."

Vance said if McGavick decides to run, "He's going to start with a ton of support." He said many of the same people who worked on Rossi's campaign for governor are lining up to help McGavick.

Vance also predicted McGavick would get huge financial support from national Republican leaders, who are eager to avenge Gorton's loss in 2000 to Cantwell.

Staff reporter Melissa Allison contributed to this story.

Ralph Thomas: 360-943-9882 or rthomas@seattletimes.com