CHICAGO — Chris Kennedy, a son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy, announced Wednesday he will run for Illinois governor in 2018, bringing the instant name recognition of his family’s political legacy to what’s expected to be a sharply contested race to unseat Republican Governor Bruce Rauner.

The Democratic businessman said Illinois is heading ‘‘in the wrong direction.’’ In an e-mail and video sent to supporters, he talked up his history of service and said he wants to ‘‘restore the American dream to the people of this state.’’

‘‘Today, I am announcing my run for governor because I love Illinois, but we have never been in worse shape,’’ he said. ‘‘We don’t need incremental improvement — we need fundamental change in state government.’’

Kennedy, 53, is the eighth of 11 children of Ethel Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, a former US attorney general who represented New York in the Senate and was assassinated in 1968 while seeking the Democratic nomination for president. He is a nephew of President John F. Kennedy.

His campaign video featured footage of his parents and other family members, and Kennedy told the Associated Press he believes Illinois voters ‘‘remember fondly the service to this country of the Kennedy family.’’

The former chairman of the University of Illinois board of trustees, Kennedy founded and now leads Top Box Foods, a nonprofit that provides affordable, healthy food to Chicago neighborhoods.

Associated Press