By John Surratt

The Vicksburg Post

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. may be considering a return to the state capital; this time as lieutenant governor.

Flaggs, who retired in 2012 to run for Vicksburg mayor after serving 25 years as the state representative for District 55, said Monday on the Paul Gallo radio show he would make a decision in six months whether to seek the seat held currently by Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves.

Vicksburg native Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, has indicated he will run for lieutenant governor.

“There’s some people who have asked me to explore the option, and I told them that I would for the next six months,” Flaggs said late Monday after a meeting of the Board of Mayor and Alderman.

Flaggs said he will pray about it and talk to his family, adding he has to determine whether he can win the statewide election and raise $2 million to finance a potential campaign.

“I do have a lot of legislative experience, and municipal experience, now; some of the things the state is lacking now, I think I can speak to them because I’ve gotten the experience,” he said, listing underfunding of education, health care, government accountability and raising state employee pay as some of those issues.

“I’m probably the longest serving member on the (House) Budget Committee, (and) I’ve served on the House Appropriations Committee for a number of years. I think in life when people ask you to seriously consider something, I think you should do it. You don’t know what God has in store for you.

“I’ll take the same pathway I took to coming here (being elected Mayor). I told them I’d talked to 500 people before I decide, but I won’t have to do that on this matter; it’s just a matter of if I could raise enough money,” he said.

“The interesting thing is, the people I can raise the most money from are Republicans, and the people I need the votes from are Democrats, so we’ll see if I can pull together a coalition if I’m to be successful. But if I get in it, I’m in it to win it and to make a difference for the people of Mississippi and make Mississippi better than I found it.”

Flaggs was first elected to the House of Representatives for District 55 in 1987. At the time of his retirement, he was chairman of the House Corrections Committee and had been chairman of the Justice and Banking committees.

He announced his intention to run for mayor in January 2013, and was first elected mayor in July 2013. He was elected to a second term in June.