Seeking to gain momentum in a race that just got more competitive, State Senate hopeful Rodney Hubbard announced late Tuesday the support of two prominent city officials - Tax Collector Gregory F.X. Daly and Prosecutor Jennifer Joyce.

The pair represent the type of establishment support Hubbard - or his rivals - will need to win in a diverse district that stretches from Chain of Rocks to Holly Hills.

Joyce and Daly are both generally popular figures at City Hall.

Joyce just clinched her third term on Tuesday, when filing ended without an opponent signing up to face her. Daly is sailing along in the Revenue Collector’s office after engineering an office switch in 2006 with License Collector Mike McMillan, another key Hubbard ally.

The timing of the endorsement is interesting. It came just a few hours after it was clear that State Rep. Tom Villa, who comes from a well-known family of southside politicians, would not enter the race.

In any case, Hubbard will now be focused on the two candidates that are in the race. Like him, they are both state reps facing term limits: Robin Wright-Jones, who filed at the same time as Hubbard, and Connie Johnson, who made a last-minute entry in the contest.

Will the next few days see them come out with their own endorsement announcements to match Hubbard’s? We’ll see.

Daly, Joyce support Hubbard