Four Republicans are seeking the House District 87 seat, which is being vacated by Chris Johnson. Johnson, who is seeking the District 45 Senate seat, served as the first and only representative of the newly-formed district. The district covers parts of Forrest and Lamar counties.
Joseph Tubb, William E. “Billy Andrews III, Ricardo Mussiett and Trey Harvison are seeking the post.
Tubb, 55, is a commercial realtor at Cook Commercial. The son of Joe and Jane Tubb, he has two sons, Seth and Peyton.
He graduated from Mississippi College with a degree in business and a minor in marketing.
Tubb is a member of Venture Church, where he serves and leads small groups. He is a volunteer with the Give and Take Kitchen, a member of the Hub City Business Network and member of the Mississippi Association of Realtors.
" I am running because I believe we need to take a business approach to government,” Tubb said. “I know what it is like to have to make a payroll and have 35 to 40 families relying on me every week to put food on their tables. When it comes to spending a dollar you can guarantee I know how to get the most of it. I won't waste taxpayers’ money. We need more common-sense people to serve in Mississippi so that we don't end up looking like Washington D.C."
Andrews of Purvis is a former board attorney for the Lamar County School District and former Lamar County Youth and County Court (20008-2018). The Purvis High School graduate has a law office in Purvis. Andrews also served as a former state representative from 1977-1983. He has also represented the Lumberton School District, Lamar County Board of Supervisors, and the cities of Purvis, Lumberton and Sumrall.
“I believe these experiences have provide me with a unique background to serve District 87,” Andrews said in an announcement on his Facebook page. “I can, and will, devote my full attention to the duties of the office.”
A lifelong resident of Lamar County, he and his wife, LaNell, have five adult children and 11 grandchildren.
Mussiett, 77, is a naturalized citizen who immigrated from Chile in 1963 and obtained his citizenship in 1983. He retired from Saladmaster and was the previous franchise owner of Howard Johnson Hotel and previous owner of Cuco’s Mexican Restaurant in Hattiesburg.
He attended three years of college and four courses on advanced sales and sales management.
He is a member of the ADP of Hattiesburg, former member of the Rotary Club and Civitan Club and current member of the Hattiesburg County Club and Dixie Baptist Church.
As a retired businessman, he wants to invest himself "full time" into serving his community of 50 years.
Mussiett has been married for 27 years to Patricia Devereaux Mussiett. He has four children – Astrid Mussiett, Mon Mussiett, Ric Mussiett Jr. and Kimberly Swilley - and five grandchildren.
“I pledge to provide full access to you,” Mussiett said. “People who know me know that I go full speed all the time and I will do that for you in Jackson. Because I am bilingual and foreign-born, I can relate to all residents in our district. There's a good chance that we've met during the past 12 years or so, if you ever ate a meal at Cuco's, which I owned and where I greeted our guests.I love people, my community and America and I want to serve you as your representative. I have the time to dedicate to be your representative for District 87.”
No information was available for Trey Harvison.
"EDITOR'S NOTE: This story originally appeared in the Thursday, July 25 issue of The PineBelt NEWS, but inadvertently included incomplete information. It's re-printed here in its entirety. We regret the error."
