Pam Dubov, chief deputy to Pinellas County property appraiser Jim Smith, has announced that she will run for the seat her retiring boss has held since 1988.

Dubov, 51, is an 18-year veteran of the appraiser's office. Smith, who has been embroiled in a controversy surrounding the county's June purchase of his private land, announced Nov. 13 that he would not seek a fifth term.

At the time, he stated that Dubov would make a fantastic successor.

Dubov, an attorney who serves on the adjunct faculty at the Stetson College of Law, was a member of the first class of women to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She joined the Pinellas appraiser's office in 1989.

A Republican, Dubov will face another GOP hopeful, Tom Minkoff, in the primary. Democrat Ben Friedlander also has filed to run for Pinellas appraiser. The general election is next November.