Bill Daley files for new committee name; no longer exploring.

Bill Daley says he is finished exploring.

His campaign tells the Chicago Sun-Times that on

Tuesday morning it will file papers with the Illinois State Board of Elections that “tears the exploratory label” off his committee.

Of course, he’s the one who put it there in the first place.

Nonetheless, Daley wants to convey that he’s not waffling; he’s committed to running for governor. That’s an important signal to send now after many donors are still reeling over Lisa Madigan’s flirtation with a run that ended up going nowhere. And Daley has a reputation for teasing about public office but never pulling the trigger.

Gov. Pat Quinn has said he will run for reelection. But the withdrawal of Madigan — whom Daley considered his biggest threat — gives the former White House Chief of Staff a much greater edge.

Daley, a Democrat whose father and brother were longtime Chicago mayors, is to change his name from the William M. Daley Exploratory Committee to Bill Daley for Illinois. He says he raised $800,000 in 19 days of his campaign.

“So I’m committed to running for governor, there is no exploratory piece of this anymore. The response I’ve gotten from people throughout the state has been very positive,” Daley says in a video.

The name change in and of itself doesn’t amount to much, says David Morrison, of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

“We don’s really have exploratory committees in Illinois, so they can call it exploratory, it doesnt affect contribution limits

it doesn’t change anything anyway,” Morrison told the Sun-Times. “It’s more of a marketing problem, than a real one.”

After Labor Day those who want to appear on the ballot are likely to start circulating petitions — “They’re due around Thanksgiving,” Morrison says.

Until then: “All you have to do to run for governor is say you’re running.”