Republican Steve Dickerson, an anesthesiologist running in the state legislature’s 20th Senate District, is up on the air with one of the first radio spots of the 2012 election season.

The 30-second ad, which we’re told aired at least once this morning during Steve Gill’s show on WLAC, describes Dickerson as a conservative who will focus on “cutting taxes, improving our schools, protecting the life of the unborn and putting Tennessee back to work.”

Listen to it here.

In a press release announcing the spot, Dickerson made reference to the crowded field that could develop in the 20th, where state Sen. Joe Haynes has declared he will not run for re-election.

“While other people may be considering whether or not to run, I want to make sure that the voters of the 20^th Senatorial District know that I am not only running but ready to serve them.”

Dickerson took 43 percent of the vote in his 2010 run against Democratic Sen. Douglas Henry, a West Nashville mainstay now in his 11th term. Dickerson’s home was redistricted this year into the 20th, which now forms a c-shape that begins in Donelson, wraps around the western Davidson County and ends in the Edmondson Pike area.

The new district is believed to be more Republican-leaning than the old 20th and 21st districts.

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