I'm aware of several Congressional candidates from 2006 who are planning to run again next year, as well as a few new hopefuls who are currently exploring a bid, but this is the first formal announcement of a candidacy by a newcomer that I'm aware of. What's more, I know of at least one other Democratic contender for CD10, which would give it two contested primaries in a row after being avoided as hopeless in 2004. Which is as it should be, especially given Mike McCaul's underwhelming performance last year. Click on for Dan Grant's press release announcing his entry into the race.

Foreign policy expert Dan Grant today filed the required paperwork to launch a bid for the U.S. Congress, saying that the families and small businesses of District 10 deserve a fresh start and a new direction in Washington, D.C.

"We need a positive change in Washington to restore balance, integrity, and mainstream values to our representation in the corridors of Congress," Grant said.

Grant recently returned to Texas after serving as part of the international civilian team in Baghdad, where his duties included helping the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq prepare and conduct the historic elections of 2005.

Calling for positive change to improve national security, move toward energy independence, reduce the national debt, and provide a level playing field for middle-class families who work hard and play by the rules, Grant said he will go to the nation's capital to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

"Let's put partnership first and partisanship last so that we can get the job done -- in Iraq and in our neighborhoods from Austin to Houston," Grant said.

As deputy director of Iraq's largest out-of-country voting program, Grant oversaw an unprecedented effort to give democracy a chance in the Middle East by registering eligible voters in major U.S. cities for Iraq's Transitional National Assembly election. He oversaw a staff of over a thousand and a budget of millions of dollars and ran the day-to-day operations of all senior personnel.

In Afghanistan, Grant helped coordinate security and policy planning for that nation's post-Taliban constitutional convention on the behalf of USAID, and previously served as an operations officer for the massive effort to re-establish Afghanistan's Central Bank.

In Kosovo, Grant played a key role as an elections supervisor in organizing the 2001 elections, working for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to help organize more than 100 polling stations and hire staff to facilitate the historic vote. He also monitored and enforced polling place procedures for important municipal elections throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina in the late 1990s.

Growing up in Austin, Grant interned for Congressman Jake Pickle during his senior year at McCallum High School. He was a foreign policy consultant for the John Kerry presidential campaign in 2004 while stationed in Kabul and later while based in Washington, D.C.

Grant is a graduate of the London School of Economics with a Master's of Science in Government Administration and Public Policy, and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. with a Bachelor's in Foreign Service.

Grant lives in Austin, where he works as an international relations consultant, and is a long-time member of St. Austin's Church.