Chrys KefalasChrys Kefalas

Chrys Kefalas, a PR exec for the National Association of Manufacturers, has launced a Republican bid for the seat of outgoing Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.).

Kefalas was attorney for the administration of ex-Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. and a speechwriter for Attorney General Eric Holder. He is VP of executive communications and chief speechwriter at NAM, the powerful trade group that represents manufacturers of all sizes.

Press reports of the launch note that Kefalas is openly gay and worked in the Obama administration as he seeks to become Maryland's first Republican senator since the mid-1980s.

Kefalas faces a primary field of three other candidates, while two Democrats are in the race for that party's nomination.

Mikulski is retiring in 2017.