Congressional District Candidates Pack Overby Center for Community Night

Each of the 13 candidates competing for the vacant first Congressional District seat gave Thursday night in the Overby Center a five-minute speech about why voters should choose them in the May 12 election.

Chip Mills of Fulton – Itawamba prosecuting attorney

“I’m a proud product of North Mississippi schools and a proud product of the University of Mississippi.”

“I believe now more than ever that it’s important that our country has more difference-makers in Washington, not necessarily politicians, but folks that have a backbone.”

Trent Kelly of Saltillo – District Attorney for the first circuit district, colonel in Army National Guard

“When others are more important than you, that is when you’re doing the right thing.”

“I’m running because my children and future grandchildren deserve to grow up in the same America that I grew up in.”

Nancy Collins of Tupelo – State senator

“I’ve stood up to politicians in Jackson and I will stand up to politicians in Washington.”

“I know something about patient care from birth to death and I want to repeal Obamacare.”

Quentin Whitwell of Oxford – Business attorney

“I don’t need on the job training. I don’t need anything other than your support and your help so that I can go to Washington.”

“The American military should be second to none. And they should be ready whenever, wherever and however there is conflict in the world.”

Boyce Adams of Columbus – Businessman (represented by Jonathan Dickerson)

“I’m tired of listening to these people say ‘I want to go to Washington and stop Obamacare. I want to go to Washington and protect the border. ‘ I want to go and actually do it.’”

“[Adams], as a business owner, understands that it’s not very easy when the government is constantly going red tape on you.”

Walter Howard Zinn Jr. of Pontotoc – Attorney

“I’m the only candidate that seems to talk about how we’re going to move Mississippi forward, not what we’re going to do in DC as if we’re going to show someone something.”

“If Mississippi didn’t brag on having the cheapest labor in the country, then we’d be talking about better housing. We’d be talking about better schools.”

Greg Pirkle of Tupelo – Attorney

“You need someone in Washington who is willing to listen to you and is going to take your feelings into consideration.”

“I always knew I was going to be a lawyer and I always knew I’d probably come back to Ole Miss because it was the love of North Mississippi that brought me back to North Mississippi.”

Mike Tagert of Starkville – Mississippi Department of Transportation commissioner

“It doesn’t matter if we’re black, white, republican, democrat, independent, Bulldog, Rebel. What sustains us in the most difficult of times is the spirit of the American veteran.”

“People who don’t understand the value of agriculture don’t understand our economy.”

Ed Holliday of Tupelo – Dentist

“I’m a dentist and a small business owner and I have a verifiable long-term record of promoting Judeo-Christian values serving the troops.”

“If you elect Doc Holliday, you’ll be sending a common-sense conservative to Washington with a sword and a shield.”

Henry Ross of Eupora – Attorney, small-business man

“I believe that we need to defend our country. That is congress’s main duty. That’s the president’s main duty.”

“I’m running for congress: To limit government, to return to constitutional government, to return to Biblical values.”

Starner Jones of Pontotoc – ER physician (represented by Austin Chambers)

“The politicians have put America in critical condition and we need a doctor to save it.”

“[Being an ER doctor] teaches you a sense of urgency. You’ve got to see through the noise and see through the chaos and get to the root cause of an issue so that you can solve those problems and save that life…That’s the kind of urgency that Starner will bring to Washington.”

Sam Adcock of Columbus — Businessman

“I don’t trust my government and what’s worse, it’s not trustworthy.”

“When you can’t trust your government, what do you do about it? Either you can personally engage and try to do something about it or you can go build a bunker in your backyard, buy the guns and wait for chaos to ensue. I chose the former.”

Daniel Sparks of Belmont – Business Law teacher at the University of Mississippi

“It matters who you’ve met [on the campaign trail] because that’s who you represent and if you’re not going to campaign with passion and go see these people, it’s hard for me to believe you’re going to represent them.”

“The reason I went back to school is not because I didn’t enjoy sales. It’s because I believed I needed tools. It’s because I believed I needed education so that I can better help those who I serve on a daily basis.”

Rachel Vanderford is a HottyToddy.com staff reporter and can be reached at rmvander@go.olemiss.edu.