Former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D.) made an official announcement Thursday that he is entering the 2018 Senate race for retiring Sen. Bob Corker's (R., Tenn.) seat.
Bredesen served as governor in Tennessee from 2003 to 2011, and said Washington, D.C. was "broken" but fixable in his announcement video that explained why he was running for U.S. Senate, which was flagged by the Times Free Press.
The 74-year-old former governor enters a race that already includes Democratic attorney James Mackler, and Republicans, Rep. Marsha Blackburn and former Rep. Stephen Fincher. Bredesen has publicly explored running for Senate since mid-October.
Corker announced in September he would not seek reelection in 2018.
"We all know Washington is broken," Bredesen said in his video announcement. "But while politicians are up there playing partisan games and working on their reelection, out here in America, back here in Tennessee, we have some real problems."
The self-made millionaire said there was a lack of "quality" jobs, a need to fix the Affordable Care Act, a desire for a commitment to stop spending in Congress and address the nation's raising deficit, and a need to put an end to the opioid crisis.
"It’s a mess, but it can be fixed," Bredesen said. "I’m running for Senate because I have the right kind of experience–and the actual track record–that it will take to start working across party lines to fix the mess in Washington and bring common sense back to our government."
Bredesen is considered a moderate, but is the last Democrat to have won a statewide Tennessee race.
Watch Bredesen's announcement video: