U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga) announced today that he will be running for Georgia’s GOP Senate nomination in 2014, to fill a seat vacated by retiring Republican Saxby Chambliss.
The Athens lawmaker becomes the first official candidate in the race, but the field is expected to grow and the 2014 Senate election is set to receive national attention.
“I went to Congress to stand against out-of-control spending in Washington, D.C.,” Broun said at an Atlanta press conference Wednesday afternoon. “Though it has often been a lonely fight, it is a necessary one. We must have someone to lead the fight to stop this madness, and restore fiscal restraint to our nation’s capital.”
In his statements, Broun painted himself as a tireless fiscal conservative who has sponsored more legislation aimed at reducing spending than any other member of Georgia delegation. The Georgia lawmaker is a member of the Tea Party caucus.
But in the coming months, Georgians and the rest of the country are more likely to hear about Broun’s social views.
Last September, Broun, who is a physician and sits on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, called modern scientific theories such as the Evolution, embryology and the Big Bang Theory “lies straight from the pit of hell.”
The Christian-conservative lawmaker has also in a past referred to abortion as holocaust and made comments about President Barack Obama possibly establishing a military force to impose a radical socialist or Marxist dictatorship in the US.
Broun also believes that the Constitution never established separation of state and church and that such idea is damaging to the nation; the lawmaker would like to see school prayer reinstated.
Broun will certainly serve as the underdog in the competitive Republican field. According to financial statements he provided for the media today, Broun only has $155,000 in campaign cash at this time.
Broun has been representing Georgia’s 10th congressional district since 2007. He is now married to his fourth wife Niki with whom he has a son; he also has two daughters from previous marriages.
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