Lamar County businessman Joseph “Bubba” Tubb will take office as state representative for House District 87 on Monday, Dec. 7.
He won the seat in a runoff election on Nov. 24 against teacher Matthew Conoly. The father of two said that he is eager to bring “common sense conservatism” to Jackson.
“I just have a good, strong feeling that if good, common sense people don’t start giving back then we’re going to look like that mess up in Washington,” Tubb said.
He originally ran for the position in 2018 and was narrowly defeated by fellow Republican Billy Andrews of Purvis. Andrews resigned from the position in March, after only three months in office, due to conflicts between drawing his legislative salary along with state retirement benefits.
Tubb has no prior political experience, but he is a lifelong Mississippi entrepreneur.
He originally came to the Pine Belt as a salesman for his family’s construction equipment company. In 1997, operations grew large enough for the company to open a Hattiesburg branch. He officially moved to the area in 2002.
Now a commercial realtor at Cook Commercial Properties, Tubb said he devotes much of his time to seeking development opportunities for the community. He also strongly promotes investments in technical career training.
“Being a commercial realtor, I deal with economic development every day,” Tubb said. “We need more jobs in Hattiesburg, but to go along with that, we need more workers. My granddaddy was the state superintendent longer than anybody ever served. He taught me that we need to invest in our kids. We especially need to invest in the 50% of kids coming out of high school that don’t have a career path.”
He continued, “I’m all for kids going to college, but the facts are that only about 25% of kids coming out of high school are going to go to college. You have another 25% that aren’t going to do anything, and then you have about 50% that need a career path. I’ve talked to contractors, I’ve talked to manufacturers, and I’ve talked to trucking companies. They’re all screaming for skilled workers that will show up and go to work. We need to invest in our career tech.”
Tubb is a graduate of Mississippi College with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a minor in marketing. He said, however, that he learned many of his business skills through experience and mentorship.
“The people (of District 87) have my promise that I will surround myself with wise people that will help me make the hard decisions that I’m going to have to make,” Tubb said.
In addition to his newly elected position, Tubb plans to continue his memberships in both the Hub City Business Network and the Area Development Partnership. He has previously served on the board of directors for the Associated Builders and Contractors of Mississippi and the Mississippi Association of Subcontractors.
Tubb is also an active member of Venture Church, where he has led several devotional groups.
