Georgia state Sen. Sonya Halpern prepares to run for McBath’s U.S. House seat

Democratic state Sen. Sonya Halpern filed paperwork Tuesday to succeed U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, becoming the first prominent candidate to enter the race to represent the district spanning parts of west metro Atlanta.

The timing of the filing, however, raised eyebrows since McBath still has not formally announced whether she’ll run for governor. The four-term Atlanta Democrat said this month she was exploring a bid for Georgia’s top office but hasn’t yet declared her candidacy.

Halpern told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she would only run if McBath enters the race for governor.

“I believe good public policy opens doors for Georgia families,” she said. “Wherever I serve, I will keep doing whatever it takes to protect Georgia jobs, bring down the cost of health care and make sure our economy works for everyone.”

Halpern earlier told the “Politically Georgia” podcast she would frame her campaign around fighting Republican efforts to slash federal funding for essential services.

“We need to be talking about the economy,” she said. “President (Donald) Trump clearly won his election, and there are many people who say he won because people were concerned about the economy, and he gave promises about what he was going to do. And so far those promises were broken.”

Halpern is likely to be joined by a range of rivals for the deep-blue seat — if McBath winds up running for governor. Other potential contenders are waiting for McBath to make up her mind before entering that race.