Carroll “Tumpy” Campbell III officially joined the 1st District congressional race, carrying on his family’s political tradition in South Carolina.

The son of former South Carolina Gov. Carroll Campbell Jr., Campbell faces a Republican primary against incumbent Henry E. Brown Jr. Brown, in his fifth term, survived a closer than expected race in 2008, edging by Democrat Linda Ketner 52 percent to 48 percent despite the district’s Republican tilt. That has whetted the appetite for a challenge for politicians on both sides of the aisle in 2010.

On Wednesday, Campbell told supporters, “We deserve better than Henry Brown.”

“You can’t say it’s time to throw the bums out and then vote for your local politician who keeps bumming a ride back to Washington based on bailout votes, earmarks and years of running for office,” he declared at the campaign event, in Mount Pleasant, S.C., the AP reported.