City of Miami commissioner Ken Russell is planning to challenge Marco Rubio next year for his U.S. Senate seat.
The District 2 commissioner made the announcement on social media Thursday morning that he is "running for US Senate to defeat @marcorubio. Together, let’s clean up the Senate and restore our country’s character."
Russell is running as a Democrat.
The announcement included a video where Russell talked up his woodworking credentials and suggested that politics should be looked at the way a woodworker looks at a project.
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"You start with what you want to build, you make a plan, gather the right tools and put in the hard work," Russell said.
Russell also slammed career politicians by saying they "have it all backwards...they just talk. They don't actually do anything or build anything."
Russell won his long-shot bid for District 2 Commissioner in 2015 and won reelection in 2019.
He faces another long-shot bid against Rubio, a two-term Republican senator who has a large national profile.
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Within his own party, he faces Joshua Joseph Weil and Allen Ellison, who are the only declared candidates in the Democratic primary, according to the Federal Elections Commission.
The situation may become more complicated for the commissioner if U.S. Representative Val Demings runs. She is expected to announce her Senate bid, but hasn't officially put her name in the hat yet.
Demings, a former Orlando police chief, made a name for herself as one of the impeachment managers in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment inquiry.
Russell said he is running to help with Florida's climate change issues he has championed as commissioner, including water quality, sea level rise and Everglades restoration.
Thirty-four of the 100 Senate seats are up for regular election in 2022, as well as any special elections, should any vacancies arise in the 117th Congress.
