Before officially filing for governor, U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof headlined an old-fashioned rally in the Capitol’s historic House lounge (the one with the Thomas Hart Benton mural) where family and friends extolled his virtues as the son of a hard-working farming couple in southeast Missouri.

Hulshof’s own brief speech plowed a lot of familiar ground (couldn’t resist the analogy) about his general campaign aims to address education and healthcare, while keeping taxes low. He did not roll out any specifics, saying that he’d do so later.

A Republican and six-term member of the U.S. House, Hulshof plans to stay in Congress while he’s running for office. He said there are a number of important Washington issues that he wants to weigh in on this year, notably the new version of the farm bill. He’ll use all his free time to run for governor.

Arguably the most noteworthy new element at Tuesday’s rally concerned Hulshof’s commitment to ethanol and alternative fuels. He continues to run a 724-acre family farm (included rented acreage), where corn, wheat, soybeans and potatoes are grown.

Hulshof said he supported federal and state tax breaks for ethanol producers. He also saw no problem with legislators or other public officials being among the ethanol investors who might benefit from such tax breaks. As long as there was ”transparency” so that their investment was public, Hulshof said it was up to the voters to decide whether it was OK for public officials to reap tax benefits.

Hulshof then disclosed that his support for ethanol goes beyond talk.  He said he mixes “a home brew” of E-30 (much higher ethanol content than that sold at the pump) to operate his family’s Ford Explorer.