Story highlights He's a former two-term governor and one-time mayor of Nashville

Republicans face an open primary contest to replace Corker

Washington (CNN) Democrat Phil Bredesen, a former two-term governor of Tennessee and one-time mayor of Nashville, announced his run Thursday in the race to fill GOP Sen. Bob Corker's seat.

In a statement on his website, he said he was running with the goal of improving how Washington handles spending and "fixing" the Affordable Care Act.

"We all know Washington is broken," he said i n his statement . "We need and deserve something better than we're getting from Washington. And we need and deserve a senator who can make that happen. I'm applying for the job."

Bredesen served as governor of Tennessee in 2003 through 2011. Before that, he served as mayor of Nashville from 1991 to 1999.

The 74-year-old hasn't run in a competitive race since his first gubernatorial election in 2002.

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