HARTFORD, Conn (AP) – Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Monday she is still not ready to announce whether she will seek election next year.

But she repeated a broad hint that she will be the Republican candidate in 2006.

“I’m still leaning very much in that direction,” she told reporters following a ceremonial bill-signing in Hartford.

Rell took office in July 2004 after her predecessor, Gov. John G. Rowland, resigned during an impeachment probe into allegations of corruption. He is serving a one-year prison term in Loretto, Pa.

The governor said she discussed the prospects of a campaign with her family and that her husband, Lou, will support any decision she makes.

Rell would not say when she will announce her decision.

The governor, who underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery after doctors found early-stage cancer last December, said she is in good shape.

“My health is fine, before anyone asks,” Rell said.

Democrats are lining up to challenge Rell if she chooses to run. Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano and Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy are raising money for a campaign.