Democrat Vic Snyder, a seven-term U.S. representative from Arkansas, has drawn a challenge from former U.S. Attorney Timothy Griffin for his 2010 House race.

Griffin told the Associated Press Monday that he would file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to establish his candidacy. He gives the Republicans the relatively high-profile challenger they have long sought to take on Snyder in Arkansas’ 2nd District, which includes the state capital of Little Rock.

The 2010 race will contrast with that in 2008, when the GOP failed to even field a candidate, and Snyder won re-election with 77 percent of the vote over the Green Party nominee.

Griffin served as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, which includes Little Rock, from December 2006 through June 2007. His predecessor, Bud Cummins, later said he was asked to resign to make room for Griffin, who worked at the White House in 2006 as an assistant to Karl Rove, then a leading advisor to President George W. Bush.

Griffin later resigned the post after earlier announcing he would not seek the nomination to retain it. The full nomination required Senate confirmation, and Griffin cited opposition from Arkansas’ two senators, Democrats Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, to his candidacy.