The race to fill the District 54 seat in the state House of Representatives gained a third candidate – a third Republican – Monday.

Ryan R. Sadler, a 27-year-old Vicksburg resident who practices law and is a registered lobbyist in Jackson, filed qualifying papers to succeed Rep. Chester Masterson, who has filed to run for the District 23 Senate seat being vacated by Mike Chaney, R-Vicksburg.

&#8220I have the most experience working with the Mississippi Legislature and feel that I am the best candidate for the job,” said Sadler, a graduate of St. Aloysius High School. &#8220I am pro-business and I support all initiatives that help working Mississippians keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets.”

Party primaries are Aug. 7, and the general election, the ballot for which would carry the name of party nominees and independents, is Nov. 6.

Sadler graduated from Spring Hill College with a degree in business and Spanish. He attended law school at the University of Mississippi, graduating magna cum laude, then worked briefly as a law clerk with the U.S. District Court for Northern Mississippi and in Mexico.

Licensed to practice law in Mississippi and Alabama, Sadler is an associate in the Adams and Reese law firm and a member of the Litigation Practice Group.

Sadler, who studied briefly in Mexico, is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Sadler of Vicksburg.

Any party or independent candidate wishing to participate in this fall’s election has until 5 p.m. March 1 to submit qualifying papers.

In the District 54 race, Sadler joins Vicksburg businessman Alex Monsour and Vicksburg attorney Thomas Setser, who qualified Friday.

If that’s how the ballot remains, the three would meet in a primary contest with a runoff following if none of them got more than half the votes cast by people choosing the GOP ballot. The eventual nominee would also appear on general election ballots and would take office Jan. 1.

House District 55, covering central and northern Vicksburg, has been held by Rep. George Flaggs since 1988. Flaggs, a Democrat, has drawn no opposition thus far in his bid for a sixth term.

In addition to Masterson, filing for the Senate District 23 seat as a Democrat has been Vicksburg attorney W. Briggs Hopson III. District 23 includes all of Warren and Issaquena counties.