Excerpts from the launch video below:

 

BRANDON PRESLEY: 
 

[...] My parents brought me home to this house as a baby and I still live here today.

I’m Brandon Presley and growing up here, you could see through the floor straight down to the dirt. 

My mama worked at the local garment factory until it shut down, then she taught pre-school at a church up the street. She was our rock and never let us feel as poor as we were. 

 

[...] My daddy was an alcoholic who never made it to recovery, and on the first day of third grade  he was murdered in cold blood. I was eight years old. 

 

[...] after attending college, I decided to come home and run for Mayor to get this town moving again. And against all odds, I won, becoming one of the youngest Mayors in Mississippi history. 

 

When I took office, Nettleton was in a heap of trouble with a mountain of debt.

 

But we jerked all the slack out of the chain to get things working again and over the next six years we balanced the budget every year and cut taxes twice.  

 

I ran for Public Service Commissioner next because I wanted to keep helping families like the one I grew up in. It’s crazy to think about but I’d gone from being a kid that grew up so poor we had our power cut off - to being the watchdog in charge of regulating those same power companies my mama couldn’t afford to pay. 

 

As public service commissioner, I opened up closed door meetings to the public, brought high speed internet service all the way out here - to some of the most rural and forgotten places in our state.

 

We put people back to work with the Hire Mississippi program, stopped boondoggles like the Kemper power plant, which saved taxpayers over 6 billion dollars. 

 

And I’m proud that I cast more votes against rate hikes and spending than any other Commissioner in Mississippi history. 

 

Now, I’m running for Governor because I know Mississippi can do better. 

 

We’ve got a state filled with good people, but horrible politicians – and that includes our Governor.

 

Tate Reeves is a man with zero conviction and maximum corruption. He looks out for himself and his rich friends instead of the people that put him into office. And he’s been caught in the middle of the largest public corruption scandal in state history. 

 

Look, we can build a Mississippi where we fight corruption, not embrace it. Where we cut taxes,  

lower the cost of healthcare and create good jobs.

 

A Mississippi where we finally focus on the future, not the past.

 

A Mississippi where we lead with strength and courage and real backbone. 

 

And if you make me your Governor, I promise you this: I'll never forget who I am, where I came from or who sent me.