Republican Steve McManus will run for the open state Senate District 32 seat, his campaign announced on Monday.

The special primary election for the open seat, vacated by former state Sen. Mark Norris, is slated for Jan. 24.

McManus, of Collierville, in a statement called Norris a "dedicated, effective public servant for Bartlett, Collierville, Lakeland, Arlington, and Tipton County," and said he wants to "serve these citizens as he did."

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Norris was recently confirmed as a federal judge in West Tennessee.

McManus spent a decade in the Tennessee House of Representatives and served as chairman of the Commerce and Insurance and Banking committees. He lost a re-election bid to the House in 2016 to Democrat Dwayne Thompson.

McManus has worked in the financial services industry in Memphis for 36 years, and he is a former Finance Chairman of the Shelby County Republican Party.

"There are a lot of issues we need to work on in Nashville," McManus said. "We need to bring more jobs to the region. We need more vocational training in our schools to help prepare our students for today's workforce."

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McManus lives in Collierville with his wife, Christal. The couple has two adult sons.

Candidates have until Dec. 13 to submit their petitions with 25 signatures of registered voters. Democrat Eric Coleman, of Bartlett, has also picked up petitions.

The special general election is March 12.

Jamie Munks covers Memphis city government and politics for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jamie.munks@commercialappeal.com or 901-529-2536. Follow her on Twitter @journo_jamie_.