Gov. Chris Gregoire launched her re-election campaign tour where it all started for the state’s leading lady – in hometown Auburn.

Gregoire – in an invitation-only gathering Monday morning – met community leaders and longtime Auburn residents in the back banquet room of the Rainbow Café, the restaurant where her mother worked when she was growing up.

The governor later boarded a biodiesel bus and took a short tour of Auburn’s Zones, Inc., a direct marketing reseller of name-brand information technology products that is the largest minority-owned business in the state. After meeting with Zones employees, the governor delivered her campaign kickoff speech to a crowd of supporters.

Auburn was the first of 14 stops in 10 cities for the governor.

After visiting Auburn, Gregoire made stops in Tacoma and Vancouver on Monday. She was scheduled to make appearances in Yakima, Sunnyside and Pasco on Tuesday.

Gregoire was expected to appear in Spokane and Bremerton today.

At each stop, Gregoire will meet and talk with citizens and community leaders about their top priorities – jobs, health care, education, public safety, taking care of the environment and veteran’s issues.

Since elected, the governor has taken on challenges and achieved results that moved families and communities in the right direction, creating nearly 225,000 new jobs, reducing unemployment to historic lows and doubling the state’s exports. Recently, Forbes Magazine called Washington one of the top-five states to do business.

Gregoire invites the public to join her on her Taking on Challenges, Getting Results tour. Other nearby appearances this week include:

THURSDAY

Port Townsend: Public House/Walk and Talk, 1038 Water Street, Port Townsend

Tour: Public event. Doors open at 9 a.m. Gregoire will stop by a local diner where she’ll meet with members of the community and answer their questions. From there, she’ll take a short walk through downtown, stopping to visit a handful of businesses.

Seattle: South Seattle Community

College/Duwamish Center,

6737 Corson Ave. S, Seattle

Tour: Public event. Doors open

at 3:45 p.m. Gov. Gregoire’s final stop will take place at a training ground for the trades and green jobs.

She will speak about the importance

of a cleaner, greener Washington with

local supporters, elected officials

and members of the environmental

community.