Robert E. "Teddy" Turner IV, son of billionaire cable television pioneer Ted Turner, is one of the first to announce his candidacy for the U.S. House District 1 seat.

The race kicked off on Monday with the announcement that Rep. Tim Scott (R-North Charleston) had been appointed by Gov. Nikki Haley to replace resigning Sen. Jim DeMint.

Scott will have to defend his new Senate seat in a special election in 2014, but the race to replace him in the House begins right now.

Teddy Turner is a 1985 Citadel grad and teaches high school economics at Charleston Collegiate School, according to a release announcing his campaign. Teddy Turner says he has made a name for himself in Republican circles in the Lowcountry over the past few years.

References to Teddy Turner's media mogul father will certainly persist throughout the campaign. And he's not the first District 1 candidate running in the long shadow of his father.

The 2010 GOP Primary for the open District 1 seat included Paul Thurmond, son of U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, as well as Carroll "Tumpy" Campbell, the son of highly-respected Gov. Carrol Campbell Jr. Tumpy Campbell has expressed interest in running again in 2012. Paul Thurmond was just elected to the S.C. Senate.

"Like most Cadets, I developed a keen appreciation for the fact that the federal government's chief responsibility is to provide for the common defense, which I think many Democrats in Congress have a hard time remembering these days," Turner said in a statement. "Of course, while working in Russia during the Cold War (for CNN), I saw the extreme consequences of the so-called 'progressive' political agendas many Democrats are now championing in Washington."

In his campaign announcement, Turner said he'd work with small business owners to address "our extremely cumbersome regulatory environment" — a pet project of Scott's during his brief time in the House.

"If given the opportunity to serve as a member of the United States House of Representatives I'll be committed to limiting the problems Washington can create for the rest of America," Teddy Turner said.

District 1 includes area of Berkley and Dorchester counties, along with much of the coast from Charelston down to Hilton Head Island.