Gov. Martin O'Malley said Monday that he's backing his lieutenant governor's political future—whatever that might be.

The Democratic governor, in an email from his campaign, called on Anthony Brown to "continue his public service and pursue the greatest possible level of public responsibility."

"No matter what lies ahead for Anthony in public service, I know that I will be with him 100 percent, because I believe that our State, our communities, and all Marylanders will benefit greatly with Anthony bringing people together to work for our shared priorities," O'Malley said in the email.

But what exactly is Brown running for?

The odds-on favorite is that Brown will run for governor in 2014 but he hasn't formally declared.

Brown is raising campaign cash and is expected to deliver the keynote speech next week at the Maryland Association of Counties Convention in Ocean City—a speech typically delivered by the sitting governor.

Several other prominent Democrats are also thought to be eying the job including state Comptroller Peter Franchot, Attorney General Doug Gansler and Howard County Executive Ken Ulman.

Here's the full text of O'Malley's email (including the bold print used for certain sentences):

Dear Friend,

I consider myself fortunate for a number of reasons: the privilege to serve the people of Maryland, the ability to make a real difference in the lives of families, and the opportunity to move our great State forward through difficult economic times.

I am also fortunate that I have had a true partner in governing from the day I took office – your Lieutenant Governor, and my friend, Anthony Brown. Anthony is an outstanding public servant, and I have seen first-hand the results we’ve achieved becaused of Anthony’s leadership on efforts to create jobs, improve healthcare, and make college more affordable for more families.

No matter what lies ahead for Anthony in public service, I know that I will be with him 100 percent, because I believe that our State, our communities, and all Marylanders will benefit greatly with Anthony bringing people together to work for our shared priorities.

As Lieutenant Governor, Anthony has pushed hard to get our economic initiatives passed to protect our investments in education and job creation. He is nationally recognized for his leadership on behalf of our veterans, and he has developed groundbreaking new laws to protect victims of domestic violence.

The challenges facing Maryland have not been easy, and our progress would not have been possible without Anthony’s leadership and determination. Together, we’ve made the largest investment in our State’s history in public education, and Maryland’s public schools have been ranked number one in the nation four years in a row. Together, we have been able to maintain Maryland’s Triple A bond rating. And together, we’ve been able to recover 65 percent of jobs lost during the Great Recession and keep our unemployment rate more than 15 percent below the national average.

Throughout all of these challenges, Anthony has been by my side every step of the way. He has taken the lead on some of the most difficult measures our administration has pursued, from expanding and improving the delivery of health care and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid, to strengthening Maryland laws protecting neglected children, to taking guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. He has leveraged legislative experience, consensus-building skills, and intelligence to pass many of our most critical priorities.

We have to work hard to make sure this progress continues well into the future, and that our State continues to move forward. For these reasons and more, I urge Anthony to continue his public service and pursue the greatest possible level of public responsibility. He has been my partner day in and day out, and he understands what needs to be done to make sure our state moves forward, not back.

After nearly six years of working together, I know that Anthony understands better than anyone how our government works, and more importantly, how to ensure it works best to improve the lives of our citizens. More than any other public official, Anthony Brown has my complete trust in his ability to serve the best interests of Maryland.

Over the coming months, I will be working hard to make sure Maryland benefits from Anthony’s continued leadership and that the progress we have made together continues well into the future. I hope you will join me in supporting Anthony in his commitment to build on the progress we’ve made in the years to come.

Sincerely,

Martin O’Malley

P.S. Please take the time to visit www.AnthonyBrown.com to learn more about Anthony’s story, his family, his military service, and the hard work he’s doing every day to move Maryland forward.