Two people have qualified so far for the special election to fill the late Lynn Wright’s seat in the legislature as of Friday.
David Chism and Andy Boyd have both qualified for the race, according to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office.
Gov. Tate Reeves has set a special election for Nov. 8 to fill the seat. The deadline to qualify is Sept. 19. District 37 includes parts of Lowndes, Clay and Oktibbeha counties.
Wright, 69, passed away last month. He had held the seat since 2020, when he ran to fill the remainder of Gary Chism’s term after Chism retired.
David Chism is a native of Lowndes County. Since 2008 he has owned Greenaway Pool. He is also the education coordinator for the local chapter of Business Network International.
Chism ran against Wright two years ago, and said he had put his political aspirations “on the back burner” after Wright was elected.
“I’m a fan of conservative leadership and I thought that Lynn Wright would do a good job up there,” he said. “I believed that he would probably hold that seat for at least six years.”
Chism said he was saddened to hear of Wright’s passing, “but the burden on my heart of the work that needs to be done for the taxpayers and business owners of Mississippi did not go away with my last campaign.”
Chism said he is very concerned about the economy.
“The economy is in severe disrepair,” he said. “…People are unhappy right now, and as a business owner I have a soft spot for people who are struggling to make things fair for their employees.”
Chism said he wanted to see more of an emphasis on teaching trade, rather than sending people to college.
“A four-year bachelor’s degree has not yielded the same return that it did 10 years ago,” he said. “It’s a wonderful thing to have, but it’s not for everybody. The Golden Triangle has all kinds of resources to equip people for the workforce, and I’d like to tap into that and take full advantage of it.”
Boyd is also from Lowndes County. He is 65 years old, and “spent 64 of them here in Columbus.” He and his wife live in New Hope, and have three adult sons.
He worked at Swoope Insurance for 29 years before becoming executive director of the Frank P. Phillips YMCA, a post from which he retired in 2019.
“I worked for a board of directors, members and the public,” he said. “I very much consider this a service and a ministry. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and the most rewarding.”
Boyd said he was looking for a purpose after leaving the Y.
“I actually thought that I would go back and do something — and I’m laughing about this — part time,” he said. “Another kind of world, somewhere else. I had people call me about a full-time job or two, but I said no. Then COVID-19 hit, and the world turned upside down.”
Boyd said the decision to run was not an easy one.
“(Lynn Wright) was a friend of mine,” he said. “I’ve known him since I was a teenager. I had some people come and approach me about running, and I said we need to wait. There was a lot of prayerful consideration and I really mulled on it for a little while.”
He decided to run last Tuesday, he said.
“I consider it an honor and a privilege to run for this position,” he said. “I’ve been here all my life, I love this area and I love Columbus. I love Lowndes County and I love my state. Everybody says they wish somebody would do something, and I looked myself in the eyeballs and decided I’ll see what I can do.”
Boyd said there wasn’t a specific issue behind his desire to go to Jackson.
“I want to be a part of the solution,” he said. “There’s no one issue. I’ll ask a lot of questions and I’ll make decisions.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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