Sumrall native Perry Parker launched his campaign for Congress in the Third Congressional District on Monday, making Starkville one of the stops on his 19-day tour.
"My name may not be as recognizable and some of the politicians who have announced or may be considering announcing for this race," Parker said. "We think that is a good thing."
Parker is a cum laude graduate with a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Southern Mississippi and a M.B.A. in finance from the University of Chicago.
Parker said his background is in agribusiness and finance, and he and his brother founded The First, a bank headquartered in Hattiesburg that now employs more than 500 people. Perry has also invested in real estate, cattle grazing, feeding and row crop farming in Mississippi.
"I have a skill set, the maturity and the business experience to be your Representative from the Third Congressional District in Washington," Parker said. "America elected a businessman and political outsider to be our president in 2016. With less political correctness and more bold ideas, our country is moving in a new direction that's good for America and for Mississippi, but there's a lot of work left to do."
Parker said he believes in and supports better education in Mississippi, as well as a strong military, but not at the expense of the veterans who have served our country faithfully.
"I'm a product of the Mississippi public education system, and my mother, sister, grandmother and grandfather were all educators in the Third District," Parker said. "There's nothing more important than educating our children."
As far as strong military, Parker said, the first job of the federal government is to provide a strong defense, so the military budget cannot be slacked on.
"We will spend money on the army of tomorrow, but with the case of veterans, and there are many veterans in District Three, we have promises to make and we will not shirk on that either. That's not where our budgets will be cut."
Parker is also a supporter of term limits as a way for government in Washington to be responsible to the people it serves, and he is a believer in the power of free markets as a way to bring a new era of wealth and opportunity to the state.
"Politicians have to be responsible to people instead of the Washington belt way, which includes term limits," Parker said. "Terms limits are something that I am for."
Perry and Ida, his wife of 28 years, live in Seminary. They have two sons, Beau and Harry.