Michelle Nunn Enters U.S. Senate Race

Michelle Nunn is expected to become the first major Democrat to enter the 2014 U.S. Senate race when she files her campaign paperwork on Tuesday.

The founder and CEO of Midtown-based Points of Light will seek the seat once held by her father, Sam Nunn, according to MyFoxAtlanta.

Current incumbent Saxby Chambliss announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election.

Patch analysis: Nunn instantly becomes the Democratic frontrunner in the contest. No other Georgia Democrat can come close to her name recognition. She has virtually no negatives at this very early stage of the campaign, and whatever leadership remains in the party (Chairman Mike Berlon resigned over legal and ethical issues earlier this year) would do well to discourage any challengers.

Why? Georgia Republicans have been outspending, out-organizing and out-working their Democratic opponents in the Peach State for more than a decade. Those efforts culminated in 2002, when Sonny Perdue upset incumbent Roy Barnes to win the governorship, and then in 2004, when Republicans captured control of the state House. 

For the first time in Georgia history, no Democrats hold any constitutional state office, and the party has groomed no one to be the face of its future.

But four Republicans have already entered the GOP Senate primary, a contest that could be brutal, bloody and leave its victor permanently scarred. Democrats can scarcely afford a similarly unpleasant contest and still retain any hope of regaining political relevancy.