PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Daniel S. Harrop III, who challenged Mayor David N. Cicilline in 2006, says he will formally announce his candidacy for mayor on March 24.

He would be the first Republican to enter a race that currently includes four Democrats.

Cicilline has said he will not seek re-election; instead, he is running for Congress in the First District.

Harrop will make his announcement at the Brooklyn Coffee Teahouse on Douglas Avenue, in Smith Hill at 6 p.m.

"With the city facing a nearly $20 million deficit, unemployment at 14 percent, and corruption in government affecting morale throughout the city, there is no time like now to show the good citizens of Providence that they have an alternative in government come this November," Harrop said in a statement.

Harrop said he will lay out his policies to improve the city's economic conditions, reduce crime, and reform education at the announcement.

Harrop is Finance Chairman of the state Republican Committee and president of the board of the Ocean State Policy Research Institute, a Providence-based conservative think tank.

An East Side resident, he is currently a practicing psychiatrist and faculty member at Brown Medical School.

The other candidates for mayor are City Councilor John J. Lombardi, state Rep. Steven Costantino, former city Housing Court Judge Angel Taveras, and Christopher F. Young.