Teresa Tomlinson, candidate for U.S. Senate in Georgia. The Hall Booth Smith partner is the former mayor of Columbus. (Photo: Twitter screenshot)

Hall Booth Smith partner and former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson publicly launched her “we can do better” campaign Wednesday for the U.S. Senate in 2020, becoming the first Democratic candidate to announce plans to take on Republican Sen. David Perdue.

The candidate, who is also a former Pope McGlamry partner, released a campaign video on Twitter the day after former state Rep. Stacey Abrams—the Democratic runner-up for governor—officially announced she would not run for the U.S. Senate in 2020.

“The U.S. government is the greatest civic achievement the world has ever known. We should be proud of that fact—and demand from it the excellence it is capable of achieving. We can do better,” Tomlinson said.

“All we get out of Washington, D.C., is endless dysfunction and division,” Tomlinson said. “Creating a government that is a framework for prosperity requires leaders who understand it and know how to lead it.”

She listed achievements from her eight years in office as mayor of Columbus that she said improved the quality of life: reducing crime, reversing blight, cutting unemployment, saving expenses and creating a tourism economy with a downtown riverfront whitewater-rafting venue.

“It's time to bring the same smart, pragmatic government to Washington, D.C.—without all the crazy and the mean,” Tomlinson said. “We don't have to rip children from their parents' arms to have a strong immigration system. We don't have to wage tariff wars on our farmers in order to solve global trade challenges. We don't have to play a game of political ego with health care in order to create a financial infrastructure through which families can thrive.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee immediately responded by calling Tomlinson a “radical, left-wing Democrat” who has voiced support for Abrams as well as Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“Second-Tier Tomlinson holds the same extreme positions as Stacey Abrams, but lacks her profile and political network,” the group's press secretary, Nathan Brand, said by email. ”Georgia Democrats' JV-team primary is a testament to Senator David Perdue's strong position for re-election and record of being a political outsider who delivers results for all of Georgia.”

One Georgia Senate seat has traditionally been held outside of metropolitan Atlanta. Senior Sen. Johnny Isakson is from the Atlanta area. Perdue is from Sea Island on the coast.

Tomlinson's move met cheers from Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore partner Jason Carter—a one-time Democratic runner-up for governor and grandson of former President Jimmy Carter.  Carter called Tomlinson “an accomplished exec from outside Atlanta” in a tweet responding to the announcement.

Tomlinson has already begun raising money and has pulled off a “deft rollout,” Carter said, adding “#lookout.”

State Sen. Jen Jordan, D-Atlanta, had been promoted as a potential U.S. Senate candidate but made it clear on Twitter Sunday that she is not. Jordan thanked supporters but declined.

“What this past session taught me is that we need more leaders in the General Assembly who are willing to fight for women, children, teachers and doctors—not less,” Jordan said. “As for the United States Senate race, whether Stacey Abrams or Teresa Tomlinson (or someone else) is the Democratic nominee, I will stand with her to make sure that we stop putting politics over the people of this state and this country.”

Tomlinson had already registered her campaign and begun fundraising. She previously told the Daily Report in an interview that she had been considering the move even as she finished up her second term leading the combined Columbus-Muscogee County government.

“I thought Sen. Perdue would be vulnerable, and I thought we could do better,” Tomlinson told at the Daily Report last month. “We're interested in this being a two-party state and seeing the Democrats have a statewide elected office.”

In November, Hall Booth announced she would be joining them when she finished her second term as mayor at the end of 2018. Tomlinson practices in the litigation defense firm's Columbus office and its Atlanta headquarters, handling complex litigation, crisis management and strategic solutions. She called the firm a “perfect fit.”

From the start, the partners have been on board with her budding plans to run for a statewide office, according to Tomlinson.

“They believe in good government,” she said. “They have been wonderfully supportive.”