Candidates for state insurance commissioner, district attorney for District 4 and supervisor of District 2 spoke at a Voters League meeting Wednesday.
Gary Anderson, 50, a Democratic candidate for state insurance commissioner, will run against Democratic incumbent George Dale, who has been in office since 1975.
Anderson ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer four years ago.
While working as a governmental relations specialist for North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo in 2004, Anderson dealt with insurance problems between Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi and the hospital.
His dealings with the insurance carrier, which he believed to be unfair to the hospital, were among his inspirations for running for state insurance commissioner.
"Mississippians want a fair deal in insurance, not a raw deal," he told League members.
Policy holders do not need language that "requires a magnifying glass to read," he said. "When you elect Gary Anderson, that's going to stop."
Anderson said Hurricane Katrina victims where he campaigned in Hancock County were ready for a candidate willing to put them first instead of the insurance companies.
"There's too much greed in this game called insurance.
We've got to stop this in Mississippi," he said.
When asked if Mississippi was ready for a black elected official in the insurance commissioner's office, Anderson said, "This race is not about black or white. It's about green." People will vote their pocket books, he said.
Anderson and his wife, Debra Anderson, 50, have been married 25 years. Debra is a member of the state College Board's Delta Revitalization Task Force.
Anderson has bachelor's degrees in public administration and urban planning from the University of Mississippi.
The second candidate of the evening, Democrat Dewayne Richardson, 30, is unopposed for the district attorney race in District 4.
Richardson said he hopes to continue the legacy of Joyce Chiles by fighting for justice and fairness.
Chiles has chosen not to run again for the office. She is known for her work in 2006 prosecuting the 1955 slaying of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black youth who was killed after whistling at a white woman in Money.
"She's going to be a difficult person to replace," Richardson said. "What we want to do is continue the work that she had started.
"Primarily, my goal is just to continue to provide justice for all the people in our community or in our district and our area," Richardson said.
He wants to "make sure that each crime that is committed is prosecuted to the fullest extent and the fullest ability of the district attorney's office."
Richardson works as an assistant district attorney, primarily in the Washington County office in Greenville.
He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Tougaloo College and a law degree from Mississippi College.
His and his wife, Lakeisha Richardson, 29, are both from Indianola. Together they have a son and a daughter.
Lakeisha is in Jackson pursuing a medical degree in obstetrics and gynecology.
Longtime Voters League member Norman Smith, the single independent candidate for supervisor of District 2, was last to speak.
Norman Smith, 68, will run against Democrats Dwight McClee and Robert Moore, the incumbent.
Smith served as a Leflore County constable from 1979 to 1999.
Voters League President state Sen. David Jordan said the League didn't like it that Smith was running as an independent instead of a Democrat but that they respected Smith as a person.
When asked by a member why he was running as an independent, Smith said he did not have enough money for the Democratic primary. "I'm not a rich man," he said.
"I'm a Democrat running as an independent. I'm both of 'em. I'm running as an independent, but I have Democratic ideals," Smith said.
He is interested in economic development and keeping resources at home.
"I'm running for three specific reasons: economically, educationally, recreationally," he said.
He wants to use his candidacy to make an impact on young people, he said. Smith is concerned that Mississippi students are gaining their college degrees and then moving out of state for work because there are not enough in-state jobs.
"They don't give us nothing. Just a memory," he said.
Community recreational centers should be created to teach children how to act in public and to keep them off the streets, he said.
Smith has bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Jackson State University. He teaches full-time at Greenwood Alternative School and teaches advanced and early civilization part-time at Mississippi Valley State University.
