Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (D.) announced today that he will challenge Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D.) for his party’s Senate nomination, making him the first Democrat to formally launch a bid to unseat Lincoln:

“Washington is broken. It’s working for the special interests, not Arkansas families,” Halter said in the statement. . . .
“I cannot stand by while jobs are shipped overseas, seniors are pushed to the brink and big banks and insurance companies get bailed out while Arkansans are left to pay for a mess we didn’t create,” Halter said.

Halter is a former deputy commissioner and acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration under Bill Clinton. He is in his first term as lieutenant governor.

Eight Republicans have already filed papers in the contest.