Jerse is currently Cuyahoga County's director of regional collaboration. He may have to take a leave of absence to campaign, but he says he'd really like to get back to Columbus.
"We really need someone who gets into the nitty-gritty of the details of this stuff to establish that the majority's principles are not always accurate," Jerse said. "They're not always the best policy but you have to have ammunition and facts to back up your opinions and I've been good at doing that and I want to do that again."
Jerse left the house in 2004 after reaching the eight-year term limit. For the Senate seat he'll be running against his successor in the house, former State Rep. Kenny Yuko, who reached his term limit just last year.
Asked about Jerse's announcement, Yuko tried to draw an early distinction between himself and his opponent.
"Issues have changed dramatically from the time Ed has been in office to the time I've been in office," Yuko said. "The people have changed as well. There's a lot of people in the current Senate makeup that I have worked with over the past eight years."
Earlier this month, Turner said she would be endorsing Yuko for the seat.
