On a campaign stop in Starkville Saturday, state Sen. Sally Doty, a candidate in the race for Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District seat, sat down with the SDN.
Doty currently serves in the state Senate, representing District 39 as a Republican and resides in Brookhaven.
In the Senate, Doty is chair of the Senate Energy Committee and serves on the Judiciary-A committee. She is currently in her second term in the Mississippi Senate. She holds an undergraduate degree from the Mississippi University for Women and a law degree from the Mississippi College School of Law.
Doty said she hoped to bring what she had learned in Jackson to Washington.
“I’m the only one in the race with any legislative experience, and I know how difficult it is to get anything done, even in the Mississippi Legislature,” Doty said. “We all know how difficult it is to get things done in D.C., you know, you go up there, and you’re one of 435 members of congress. Even if you say ‘I’m going to do this, and I’m going to get this done,' in reality, you’ve got to know how to work with different groups within your own party and across the aisle.”
Doty is a conservative with a 100 percent pro-life voting record. She plans to fully support Second Amendment rights, and supports the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. She also plans to stand firm on immigration legislation.
She discussed some of her legislative successes in the state senate, including campaign finance laws and additional protections for victims of domestic violence.
“What that bill does is it keeps politicians from spending campaign donations on personal expenses,” Doty said. “It also prohibits you from, if you are finished running for office, when you’ve completed your time, you cannot take any money left over in your campaign account with you. We have a lot of folks who were building up big reserves in their campaign accounts, and using it almost as if it were a retirement fund.”
Doty also said she would support President Donald Trump’s agenda in Washington.
“In addition to supporting his agenda, I’m going to look for those things that are beneficial to Mississippi,” Doty said.
She also voiced support for workforce development in Mississippi.
“It’s not just what training do we have, and what opportunities do we have,” Doty said. “It’s are those trainings and opportunities aligned with what the community really needs?”
Rural broadband would also be an issue for Doty.
Doty is a mother to three children, Ellen, Sarah and Ben.
The 3rd Congressional District seat became open following Rep. Gregg Harper announcing his intention to not seek reelection.in the 2018 midterm elections.
In addition to Doty, Republicans Morgan Dunn, Michael Guest, Whit Hughes, Perry Parker and Katherine Tate are also running.
No Democrat has qualified for the race.