Lofton Gray, a Mississippi Army National Guard officer, former educator and current Ole Miss law student hopes that voters will turn out for him on Aug. 8 in the Republican Primary.

When asked what issue is most important to him, Gray cited education. “Education is the silver bullet,” he said. “Crime, poverty, unemployment…all of these problems go back to education.

“Mississippi has dedicated and hardworking teachers; we need to review our spending in that arena and find a way to adequately give them the support they need, it’s time someone refocus our educational priorities.”

When asked why he is running, Gray said, “I’m running because Oxford can do better, and Mississippi can do better. We have a Republican-led legislature that has handed Mississippians the nation’s highest grocery tax and a crumbling rural hospital system and has failed to adequately support vocational programs in our schools to make Mississippi competitive when it comes to education.

“Conservatism is supposed to be about low taxes and giving people the means through which they can achieve the American dream; but in today’s Mississippi, our middle class is shrinking and our economic growth is hindered by elected officials who simply don’t have their priorities straight. Mississippi is the only state in the Southeast that lost population in the last census…we can and must do better.”

Gray cites his prior experience working at the Mississippi House of Representatives, at the Mississippi Center for Public Policy and for Republican campaigns in Georgia.

Gray is running as a Republican and will appear on the Aug. 8 Primary Election ballot.

Voters can find more information on Lofton and his campaign on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter; or can reach out to him with any questions and concerns at (662)454-4862.