Rep. Broun's wife announces husband's Senate candidacy

Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) is steps closer to officially announcing his bid for retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss's (R-Ga.) seat after delivering a rousing speech at a meeting of local politicos in Georgia on Wednesday night.

According to a blog post by Georgia GOP consultant Andrew O'Shea, Broun "took the stage and began discussing the usual/current problems in Washington: congressional gridlock, damage made to the Republican brand, as well as the lack of leadership coming from the West Wing."

After he finished his impromptu address, his wife, Niki Broun, told the crowd that he had her permission to run and that "he was openly announcing his candidacy" right there. Chambliss announced last week that he would be retiring at the end of his term, avoiding an expected primary challenge from the right and opening up his seat to a number of Republicans in the state considering the bid.

Broun has been considered a likely contender for the seat for some time. Recently, Broun said he was "honored" people were asking him to run, and sounded open to a bid for the seat, though he said he hadn't made any decisions on the race.

"I don’t know. I'm honored that a lot of people are asking me to run. I've not made that decision," Broun said on a local Georgia radio show. "It's not time to think about it."

A Broun spokesman did not refute O'Shea's report, and said in an email to The Hill that "we expect Dr. Broun to make a formal announcement within the next week" concerning his future plans.

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