"It's time to end these frivolous lawsuits and to put a cap on punitive damages," said Ravenel, the youngest of state Sen. Arthur Ravenel Jr.'s six children. "Everywhere tort reform has been tried, the system has been improved."

Though his announcement speech was short on specifics, Ravenel, 40, a developer of supermarket and shopping center sites, said government needs to be made smaller.

"In the weeks and months to come I will be visiting every community in South Carolina, listening to the people of South Carolina and talking with them about our shared vision of the American dream," he pledged.

Although he's never held office, Ravenel conceded his name carries a lot of weight and could open a lot of doors. "The name 'Ravenel' isn't new to South Carolina politics," he said.

His father, an early Republican Party leader who joined the GOP in 1960 and later served eight years as Charleston's congressman, was on hand for his son's announcement in North Charleston.

"I'm going to help him raise some money," said the senior Ravenel, who is retiring from the state Senate next year.

Ravenel said his son honed his political skills working in the elder's races, manning the polls and walking door-to-door. He expected a tough nomination fight versus the three other Republicans in the race: former attorney general Charlie Condon of Sullivan's Island, three-term U.S. Rep. Jim DeMint of Greenville, and Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride.

Incumbent Democrat Fritz Hollings, 81, won't announce until later this month whether he'll seek another term.

This is the younger Ravenel's second bid for public office. He unsuccessfully ran for a Charleston seat in the House of Representatives in 1988.

Thomas Ravenel was born in Charleston, went to St. Andrew's High School and graduated from The Citadel in 1985. An older brother preceded him. A knee injury from high school sports prevented a military career and he received a master's degree in business from the University of South Carolina. During the last decade Ravenel's development company has built 59 commercial projects in 10 states.

Ravenel's announcement speech centered more on Republican pro-business stances than the pro-environment, pro-Confederate flag politics of his father.

"I know first-hand that small business is the engine that drives our economy," he said. "And to grow this economy we've got to cut taxes."

"The American dream is also an obligation that we must work to provide the very best education for our children," he added

Rod Shealy, Ravenel's in-state political consultant, said the campaign will mirror the recent governor's race, in which Mark Sanford, a coastal Republican from Charleston, upset the GOP establishment candidate, Bob Peeler from the Upstate, and Condon to win the nomination.

Since DeMint is widely seen as the early establishment favorite "we're looking at the same dynamic," said Shealy. "Our theory is that Condon is more of a statewide presence," he added. "He probably hurts DeMint more than Ravenel."

Shealy said Ravenel has also hired Atlanta-based political consulting firm the Perdue Group, which has helped direct several Republican upset wins in the South, current Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's win in Tennessee and Saxby Chambliss' win over Democrat Sen. Max Cleland in Georgia among them.

Much of Ravenel's money -- he's put $950,000 of his own cash in the race -- will go for TV ads. A film crew was at Thursday's announcement.

The senior Ravenel predicted his son would be in a runoff for the nomination with DeMint. Under South Carolina election law, if no candidate in a multi-candidate field gets better than 50 percent of the vote, the two top vote-getters face each other again for the nomination.

About 35 supporters were on hand at the kick-off at the Embassy Suites Hotel in North Charleston, including Charleston City Councilman Republican Larry Shirley. Shirley said he is endorsing Ravenel and willing to take a chance on the newcomer partially as a payback to Arthur Ravenel Jr., for his past support.

"Yes, he's a political unknown, (and) he's never held a public office," Shirley said. But he added "a lot of career politicians lose sight of what they should be doing."

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