Michelle Nunn declares herself a U.S. Senate candidate | Political Insider | www.ajc.com

The formal announce will come Tuesday, when she files the official paperwork. “I’m excited about it,” Nunn said in an exclusive interview. “I’ve learned that you can’t wait for somebody else to do it. Everybody has an individual role and a responsibility to contribute where they can. This seems like a way for me to contribute.”

Nunn, 46, said she intends to make the nation’s finances and deficit reduction a key focus of her campaign, picking up where U.S. Saxby Chambliss leaves off. Chambliss, a Republican who retires next year after serving two terms, has played a central role in the so far unsuccessful “Gang of Eight” effort to craft a deal to reduce the $17 trillion federal debt.

Nunn is a first-time political candidate facing steep odds. Even so, her entry has been anticipated for months, and is sure to turn Georgia into a 2014 battleground state, unleashing millions of dollars in campaign contributions and super PAC expenditures.

Republicans hold every statewide office in Georgia, but understand that the state’s rapidly changing demographics ultimately threaten that hold. To Democrats, the Georgia contest represents one of only two potential Senate pick-ups in 2014. The other is Kentucky. The race here could determine whether Democrats retain control of the chamber.

via Michelle Nunn declares herself a U.S. Senate candidate | Political Insider | www.ajc.com.