By Gabrielle Terrett

The Vicksburg Post

U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel may be the most conservative of the candidates seeking to fill the unexpired term of former Sen. Thad Cochran, who retired from office earlier this year due to failing health.

McDaniel was in downtown Vicksburg Friday afternoon shaking hands and asking for votes.

McDaniel faces challengers Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to fill the remainder of Cochran’s term after he left office, and Democrat Mike Espy, a former U.S. congressman from Mississippi and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under the Clinton Administration, in the Nov. 6 election.

In 2014, McDaniel came extremely close to upsetting incumbent Cochran, losing narrowly in a runoff election.

He said his inspiration to run for the U.S. Senate position comes from his perspective on how government should operate.

“I feel like our country is struggling. I feel like our government is corrupt and the cause of that is because the government is no longer listening to the people,” McDaniel said. “I have a fear that Mississippians aren’t being heard, whether that be Jackson or Washington.

“So we want to change this mechanism, to push back the establishment of the machine and to give regular people a voice again in their government,” he said.

McDaniel thinks Mississippians should have a voice in their government, even going as far as bringing up alleged corruption of our government on both the Democratic and Republican sides.

“I’m going to fight for the Republican platform and I believe strongly that the core part about campaigning is that Washington, D.C., has to be changed,” he said. “There are elements within both parties that have corrupted the system, and these elements pollute and they conspire to maintain power and that is at the expense of the rest of us. We’re here to break up that machine.”

McDaniel said he understands the problems all Mississippians endure, and if given the opportunity he wants to turn these problems into a solution.

“First, I want to stop illegal immigration. The best way to begin that process is by building a wall on the Southern border,” he said. “Number two, I think it’s time for term limits. I think the system is corrupt. It’s not listening and we should replace the administration in Washington with new people and new ideas and we should keep those new ideas moving every 12 years or so.

“Lastly, I believe the federal government has grown too powerful. We need to turn this power back to the states to whom this power has always belonged so that states can experiment with this policy, both educational, domestic and physical that they may find what works for their own diverse populations.”

McDaniel said he wants what is best for the people of Mississippi. He plans to focus on helping the state gain a financial push, because it has been behind for so many years and he wants to make a change, not only in Mississippi’s government, but the U.S. government as well.

“For the people I will always be accessible, I will work hard to empower individuals at the expense of the government, I’m going to expand liberty for everybody and make sure that the government is not over regulating or overtaxing citizens.”

McDaniel is a lifelong Republican and has served as state senator from Ellisville for 11 years. He lives in Ellisville with his wife Jill and two sons, Cambridge and Chamberlain.

He is a graduate of Jones County Junior College and William Carey University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree. McDaniel graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Law.