Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts has unveiled her 2010 gubernatorial campaign team, a seasoned group of political veterans who offer another concrete sign that the Democrat will stage a serious run for Rhode Island governor.

The team includes Joe Slade White, a media consultant and longtime adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden, pollster Molly O'Rourke of Washington, D.C.-based Hart Research Associates, and Karen Petel, whose firm, Petel and Company, provides direct mail support to campaigns. They join Seth Klaiman, Roberts' previously hired campaign chairman.

"Next year's campaign may be the most pivotal election in our state's recent history," Roberts said in a statement Thursday morning. "This team will help me turn the page on politics as usual in Rhode Island, and find real solutions to the challenges facing Rhode Islanders."

White, a New York based consultant, has worked on more than 400 political campaigns over four decades including those of Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Biden. White has also done corporate work for Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens.

Hart, of Washington's Peter Hart Research Associates, is a Brown graduate who has done polling work for a variety of local and national corporations and political candidates.

Petel, a Central Falls native, has extensive direct mail experience both in Washington and in Rhode Island.

And finally, Klaiman, who joined the Roberts team several months ago, has previously worked both for Rhode Island's U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and former U.S. Rep. Weygand.

Roberts will face a crowded Democratic field that will likely include Rhode Island General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio and Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, among others.

The lieutenant governor ended the last quarter with $254,780, after raising $45,824, spending $22,061 and loaning her campaign account $100,000. As of Feb. 1, that put her behind both Caprio and Lynch in funding but ahead of several Republicans.