Republican David Landrum of Madison announced Jan. 7 that he will be running in the 3rd Congressional District race. Mississippi State University is included in the 3rd District. Neil Forbes, Landrum’s campaign manager, said Landrum is running as a businessman. He is not a politician, lawyer or bureaucrat, and he believes common business principles should be installed in Washington.
One of Landrum’s biggest focuses is going to be economic development, which will create more job opportunities in the state for those graduating, Forbes said.
Landrum understands that economic development and higher education work hand in hand, Forbes said.
“He’s a veteran and strongly supports the military,” he said. “He thinks the budget should be increased so our soldiers are the best-equipped in the world to fight the war on terror. He’s served on education boards at Mississippi College and Southern [and] he understands the value of higher education.”
In addition, Forbes said that Landrum is against amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Dylan Bradshaw, a public policy and administration graduate student, is working on Landrum’s campaign. He said that Landrum has a great team working behind him.
This weekend, Bradshaw will be heading up a group of volunteers to campaign for Landrum in the Starkville area. He said the campaigning is just getting started with campaigning, but he expects it to get more intense as primaries get closer.
“The main reason I’m working on his campaign is because he took the time to sit down with me and talk to me on a personal level,” Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw also said that he liked Landrum because he is a very family-oriented person.
Landrum plans to visit MSU and speak to some student organizations including College Republicans and the Stennis-Montgomery Association, Bradshaw said.
Senior political science major Whitney Holliday said that this congressional race is very important for Republicans.
“I’m glad to see that there are a lot of good candidates qualifying,” she said. “District 3 needs a congressman that’s going to invest in further developing this area and who will especially keep Mississippi State’s interest first.”
Bradshaw said Landrum is the best candidate because of his strong leadership skills and a business-oriented platform.
“He’s very conservative, so he’ll mesh well with the other Mississippi congressmen,” he said.
Stuart Saulters, senior civil engineering major, has had the opportunity to meet Landrum.
“Landrum is a nice guy and a very successful businessman and that success shows that he knows how to manage people and conquer problematic situations,” Saulters said. “However, there are some other candidates who are much more experienced, politically.”
Saulters said that when determining who he will vote for he will be looking at the amount of political experience each candidate has had.
“I believe that experience is vital since the elected candidate will be working with other politicians and will be exposed to the larger world of politics in our nation’s capital,” he said.
Others that have announced their candidacy for the 3rd Congressional District race include James Broadwater (R-Flowood), Gregg Harper (R-Pearl), Gregory Hatcher (R-Meridian), Billy Marcy (R-Meridian), Sen. Charlie Ross (R-Brandon), MSU alumnus John Rounsaville (R-Madison), Randy Eads (D-Starkville) and Joel Gill (D-Pickens).
Primaries for the race will be held March 11.
For more information about Landrum and his platform, click here.