Harper in Brookhaven, Landrum in Meridian

The Daily Leader - Congressional hopeful makes stop in city - Gregg Harper, a Pearl Republican running for Mississippi's Third Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, visited Brookhaven Friday to spread his pro-military and anti-illegal immigration message. What sets Harper apart from his peers, he said, is political experience and a devotion to family, which stems from his son Livingston, an 18-year-old who is affected by a genetic abnormality called Fragile X Syndrome. "That has profoundly affected our lives," Harper said. "If I'm fortunate enough to be elected, I will be a strong advocate for families raising children with special needs." Harper said the only way to give those families hope is to give something back, something he strives to accomplish at his small law office in Pearl. "I've hired special needs students from Pearl High School to work after school," he said. "I do believe that, as a government, we should help those folks that really need to be helped and not those that don't."

Harper also discussed the big issues affecting not just him and his fellow candidates, but the entire nation. He said the first "red meat issue" to be dealt with is immigration. "The death of Western civilization - it's scary what hangs in the balance," Harper said. "Do we have the stomach to be in the fight?" After the securing of the two borders, Harper said that before new immigration laws were passed, the existing ones must be enforced. "I'm opposed to amnesty, in any form," he said. "And I'm tired of paying our tax dollars for benefits for illegals."

Harper said his second issue was the support of the military and its mission, which is kind of a family rite for him. His late father served as the tail gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress in World War II, and his brother retired from the Air Force after 30 years in the cockpit of a B-52 Stratofortress. On monetary matters, Harper is in favor of preserving the current system of Social Security for senior citizens who have paid in, but wants to adjust it for the younger generation. "What's wrong with letting young workers in their 20s, 30s and 40s have a portion of their Social Security taxes go into a personal retirement account that they actually have?" he asked.

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The Meridian Star - Annual Mayor & Supervisors Leadership Prayer Breakfast is Feb. 29 - Mission Mississippi Board Chairman and 3rd Congressional District candidate David Landrum will share his story of faith and dedication to the community at Friday’s Annual Mayor and Supervisors Leadership Prayer Breakfast. An affiliate of Mission Mississippi, Mission Meridian has co-sponsored the annual breakfast with Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith and the Meridian City Council for several years. This year, the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors is also a co-sponsor. David Landrum serves as chairman of the Board of Mission Mississippi and he is a board member for Here’s Life. He was recently named vice president of the Magnolia Speech Schools. He is a former Board of Trustees member at Mississippi College, where he was also chairman of the Business Advisory Committee. Landrum also serves on the boards for Habitat for Humanity, Transformation Jackson, and the Madison County Foundation. He is a member of the University Of Southern Mississippi School Of Business Advisory Committee. The Landrums are active members of Pine Lake Baptist Church. Married for 29 years, they have two children, Tommy and Lauren.