LeMieux announces for Fla. Senate seat

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., April 5 (UPI) -- George LeMieux says he's running for the U.S. Senate, joining a likely crowded Republican field challenging Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

LeMieux spent 16 months in the Senate from September 2009 to this January after being appointed by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to replace the retiring Mel Martinez, the St. Petersburg Times reported Wednesday.

Before that LeMieux, an attorney, had served at Crist's chief of staff in 2007 and was deputy attorney general of Florida from 2003-2005.

LeMieux, 41, has made no secret of his desire to return to the Senate full time and has spent the period since the November election assembling a campaign team, the Times reported.

"I'm in because the country and our government is on the risk of failure," LeMieux said. "This is a crisis. I saw it up close. If we don't rein in the spending we're going to melt the economy. I can't stand by on the sidelines and let that happen."

Opponents are likely to make an issue of his long association with Crist, now on the outs with conservative activists in Florida.

Crist gets no mention on LeMieux's campaign Web site.

"Look, I'm my own man, and I have a record," he said.

"I showed my stripes and I showed my principles when I was in Washington," LeMieux said. "The best way to evaluate what George LeMieux's positions are is to look at my record on the job."