Son Also Rises in Ga.: Matt Lieberman Makes Senate Bid

Twenty years after Joe Lieberman narrowly missed becoming America's first Jewish vice president and seven years after he retired as senator from Connecticut, son Matt Lieberman last week announced his candidacy for the Senate from Georgia.

The younger Lieberman, a teacher and businessman, is the first "name" Democrat to declare for the seat Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., will vacate Dec. 31 as he battles Parkinson's Disease.

Primaries will be held next year and candidates of all parties will compete on the same ballot in November. Under Peach State law, if no candidate gets a majority of the votes, then the top two vote-getters will meet in a run-off in January.

Largely because of his father's widespread national network of contributors, Matt Lieberman is expected to have little difficulty raising funds.

But where Joe Lieberman was well known as a "hawk" on fighting international terror and a centrist on several domestic issues, Matt Lieberman's views are largely unknown so far. In a video declaring his candidacy, he called for a ban on assault-style weapons, proclaimed himself pro-choice, and endorsed a "Voting Rights Act for the 21st Century" to protect voters who rights might be endangered by state and local laws.

Lieberman is the first "name" Democrat to throw his hat into the special election for the remaining two years of Isakson's term. Other strong Democrats are eyeing the race, most notably among them former State Sen. and 2010 gubernatorial nominee Jason James Carter (grandson of Jimmy Carter).

Several Republicans are vying for appointment to the seat, which Republican Gov. Brian Kemp will make before Isakson departs on Dec. 31. Among them are Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., former Rep. Jack Kingston, and State House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones.

Lieberman is the first son of a former senator from one state to run himself in another state since George H.W. Bush, son of former Sen. Prescott Bush, R-Conn., unsuccessfully ran for the Senate from Texas in 1964 and 1970.

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.