Secretary of State Trey Grayson made it official and filed his paperwork last Thursday to officially become a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Grayson is one of four Republicans to file so far and made heath care one of the more prominent issues of his campaign, promising to repeal any “federal healthcare takeover” Congress approves this year.

The U.S. Senate approved a bill in December that aims to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system. Among the provisions in the $871 billion piece of legislation are the creation of insurance exchanges aimed at aiding small business to purchase less expensive coverage and preventing insurance companies from covering pre-exisiting conditions.

A major difference between the Senate bill and the bill previously approved by the U.S. House remains the omission of the public option, which would create government funded coverage. Rather than add a public option to the table, the Senate bill allows for the creation of nonprofit plans which would be regulated by the federal government.

But both bills include a measure that requires individuals to carry some sort of health care coverage or face penalties for non compliance, although they do allow exceptions based on income.

In a release from his campaign last week, Grayson said the Democrats in Washington are spending too much money on measures that won’t fix health care but will drive up the nation’s already massive deficit.

“The list of problems our country faces is growing, and the liberal majority in Washington keeps spending and borrowing and expanding government to try to fix them, but it’s not working. We need conservative leaders who will stand up against the status quo and fight for reforms to cut spending and reduce the deficit,” said Grayson.

Following his officially becoming a candidate for the Senate, Grayson supporters hosted house parties in 95 counties across Kentucky and participated in a live webcast and telephone town hall with the candidate. About 5,000 people participated, according to the campaign.

Grayson announced during the events that he had signed the Club for Growth’s pledge to repeal any federal takeover of healthcare, a pledge his major opponent, Rand Paul, signed as well.