State Sen. Parker Griffith (D) announced Friday that he would enter the race to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Bud Cramer in the Huntsville-based 5th district.

Griffith’s announcement late last week came as two other well-known potential candidates, Public Service Commissioner Susan Parker (D) and Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks (R), took their names out of the race.

Griffith is a retired oncologist whose state Senate district includes most of Huntsville.

Republicans have been openly excited at the prospect of an open-seat race in a district where the GOP routinely has dominated Democrats in presidential elections. In 2004, President Bush took 60 percent of the vote in the 5th despite the fact that Cramer won his re-election campaign that year with 73 percent.
— John McArdle