Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Former state Sen. Jim Holt said today he will run for the U.S. Senate.

The Republican from Springdale said he would announce his candidacy during a Jan. 14 fly-around with stops in Little Rock, Texarkana, Jonesboro and Fort Smith.

“Our government needs serious reform, and it needed it yesterday,” Holt said in a news release.

Holt, who began seeking campaign contributions last month, will join an already crowded field of seven Republicans seeking the party’s nomination to challenge incumbent Demmocrat Blanche Lincoln, who is seeking a third term.

Holt, who received 44 percent of the vote against Lincoln in 2004, accused the senator today of supporting “socialist agendas” in Congress, including her vote for the Senate health care bill.

Steve Patterson, Lincoln’s campaign manager, said Lincoln was accountable to Arkansans and worked hard to help craft a Senate health care bill that he said is “specifically helpful to the people of this state.”