NATCHEZ — In the race of Mississipi House District 97, one candidate is running on what he characterizes as a proven conservative record, while his challenger says she’s motivated to run because she wants a better education system in the state.

The election will be Tuesday.

Sam Mims

Incumbent Rep. Sam Mims, R — McComb, is seeking a fourth term as District 97’s representative.

“I think we have had a very positive and productive record to run on the last 12 years, and I think four years ago, the citizens of Mississippi spoke loud and clear when they chose voted for the first time in history of Mississippi to have Republicans in the majority for the House of Representatives,” he said.

“I, along with other legislators, have been able to stop the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare, and because the Republicans have the majority I have been appointed a member of the appropriations committee, which oversees the state budget. I have been really able to get involved in the operations of the state budget and making sure we are spending our money wisely.

“I think you can look to Washington and see it is an absolute mess, but it is not a mess in Jackson with your state Legislature. We still have a lot to do, but we are headed in the right direction.”

Mims serves as the chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, and Mims said moving forward he would like to see the state take a more proactive step in recruiting more health care providers.

“I still believe access to health care means having more health care providers here in Mississippi,” Mims said. “We need more doctors, more dentists, more nurses, pas and social workers. That is how we improve our access to health care, and we will look at legislation where we can improve that.”

Mims said he also wants to continue working to keep the state budget balanced, efficient and non-reliant on one-time money.

“I think everybody is pleased with our budget process, and I think they know we are trying to change the direction we inherited four years ago from the Democrats,” he said.

“We are not just focused on this year, 2015, we are also focused on 2016 and 2017, because we know the actions we take in 2015 will have an effect in 2016 and 2017. As we go out and knock on doors, I am finding people are very pleased with our budget, that it is not a chaotic mess like it is in Washington. I think they understand we are working well as a team, and we are getting things done.”

Kitty Sasser

Challenger Kitty Sasser, D — Summit, said she decided to run for the House seat because, as a teacher for 31 years, she is not happy with how education has been treated in the state.

Sasser retired from her teaching job last spring.

“The children are our future, and in order for our state to grow as a sate, in order for our economy to grow and industry to be open to coming to our area, we are going to have to have a good public school system,” Sasser said.

“I know in the past 31 years, since I started teaching, in my perspective it has never been funded like it should have been.

“You have leaky roofs, school buildings that are practically dilapidated in some areas, technology that kids need to be aware of, we need lower teacher-student ratios, a lot more one-on-one instruction.

“We can’t do a lot about what goes on after our kids leave school or before they get to us in the morning, but they have to do the best we can while we have them.”

Sasser said she is also running because she doesn’t feel like the views or best interest of the district have been reflected in Jackson in recent years.

“I am a common-sense person who looks for common-sense answers,” she said. “I am able to put things in perspective, and in a way people can understand, to listen and to understand what they want and to take that to Jackson.”

Sasser said she believes the state should accept the federal subsidy that would help with the expansion of Medicaid that was proposed under the Affordable Care Act.

“I definitely feel we should accept the money that is being offered to us,” she said. “Mississippi is not a rich state, and we have a lot of needs. I feel the money we are turning down could help meet those needs.”

Sasser said she feels like Social Security and Medicare haven’t been protected, and promises have been broken to state retirees.

“I feel like I am a very hometown person, down to earth, and I won’t forget our hometown values,” she said. “I was raised to respect our elders and our veterans, and my votes would be to protect them.”