put (one's) hat in(to) the ring

To announce or make known one's intention to compete with others, especially in a political election. I'm thinking about putting my hat in the ring for class president! As has been widely predicted, the governor put his hat into the ring yesterday for the upcoming presidential election.

throw (one's) hat in(to) the ring

To announce that one is going to be competing with others, especially in a political election. I'm thinking about throwing my hat in the ring for class president! As has been widely predicted, yesterday the governor threw his hat into the ring for the presidential election next year.

hat in the ring, to put/throw one's

To enter a contest; to become a candidate in an election. This expression comes from boxing, where in the early nineteenth century the practice of throwing one’s hat into the ring indicated a challenge. “Throw in his hat, and with a spring get gallantly within the ring,” wrote John Hamilton Reynolds (The Fancy, 1820). Later the term was transferred to other kinds of challenge, particularly political ones. It was so used by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, when he told a journalist, “My hat’s in the ring,” indicating his candidacy.