Gov. Christine Gregoire launched her reelection campaign Monday in Auburn’s Rainbow Café, a few feet from where she once sat after school while her single mother cooked flapjacks and flipped burgers.

Gregoire, a 1965 Auburn High School graduate, scanned the crowded banquet room of the downtown eatery and found there some people she knew, including the two sons of a former classmate and Auburn City Councilman Gene Cerino, her high school driving instructor, now 81.

“Don’t ask him any questions,” Gregoire said to laughter.

Gregoire, flanked by husband Mike Gregoire and U.S. Congressman Norm Dicks, spoke proudly of her track record on the environment, education and the economy. She promised to fight during a second term for children, senior citizens, veterans and the less fortunate.

To win a second term, Gregoire will have to get past former state Sen. Dino Rossi, her Republican opponent in the bitterly-contested 2004 election and her opponent once again. Rossi, the initial winner of that contest, lost by 133 votes on the third recount and a long court battle.