Registering an official committee with the Federal Election Commission earlier today, former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson is the first Democrat to formally explore a run for the U.S. Senate in Georgia. In an email alert to supporters, Tomlinson expressed some of the considerations behind her decision.

“I believe that the US government is the greatest civic achievement the world has ever known, but the current power structure in Washington has corrupted it,” she wrote. “We can do better, and that starts with Georgia. We can elect a Senator who is ready to take on this entrenched power structure so that government serves the people once again.”

“Democrats owe a debt of gratitude to Stacey Abrams,” she explained. “As we give Stacey the space she needs to make the decision about her next chapter, I have begun to lay the foundation for a run for the U.S. Senate myself should she decide not to.”

The first female Mayor and first re-elected in a contested race since the state’s second largest city consolidated in 1971, Tomlinson served some 200,000 diverse citizens and oversaw nearly 3,000 employees and a $275 million budget. By the time she finished her second term, Columbus was named one of the “25 Best Run Cities in America.”

“When I was elected, I could see that government wasn’t serving all its citizens. So, I came up with a new game plan,” reads a letter from Tomlinson on her newly updated website. “By bringing people together, we showed that government can be a tool to improve people’s lives and get results.”

As an eighth-generation Georgian with deep ties throughout the state, Tomlinson was born and raised in Atlanta. A proud product of Georgia public schools, Tomlinson attended Sweet Briar College in Virginia and earned her law degree from Emory University. Quickly earning the respect of her legal colleagues, she became the first female partner of their firm, before moving to Columbus where she met her husband.

Before becoming Mayor, Tomlinson also served as Executive Director of MidTown Inc., a non-profit that partners with business leaders to clean up and rebuild blighted communities. Her successful service led her to back-to-back wins in her Mayoral races, earning more than 60 percent of the vote each time in the minority-majority city.

As Democrats look to regain a majority in the U.S. Senate, Tomlinson’s political strength could go a long way in helping turn Georgia blue. But first, she’ll need to make a final decision about entering the race and make her case to Georgia voters.

“If I decide to run for Senate,” she added, “my commitment will be to work every day to make sure the U.S. government serves ALL Georgians and ALL Americans.”