"Andy has spent the last 34 years as a practicing attorney and counsel to many of the leaders of Mississippi, for longer than that as husband, then as a father and, for the past seven years, as a passionate crusader in the fight agains the scourge of drugs. He believes the fight against drug predators should be top priority for law enforcement, led by your next Attorney General.
Andy has been at the vanguard of the Mississippi Republican Party for all of his adult life, first serving as our state’s College and University Campus Director for Ronald Reagan’s campaign in 1980, as Political Director of the state GOP, and then in the leadership of President Reagan’s re-election effort.
Andy went on in 1991 to help elect Kirk Fordice as the first Republican Governor of Mississippi in the modern era. Governor Fordice then chose Andy as his Chief of Staff and Counsel, where he was instrumental in the ramp-up of Mississippi’s first Republican administration in the 20th century.
Andy has also served as Litigation Counsel to Governor Haley Barbour and Audit Counsel to then-State Auditor Phil Bryant. He was named by Governor Bryant as Co-Chairman of the Mississippi Department of Corrections Task Force to help restore public confidence in the operations of state government after the bribery scandal that shook that department. Andy is also one of Governor Bryant’s appointees to the Mississippi Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee.
Andy has been considered one of the top political minds in the state for three decades. Outside of his counsel to our state’s leaders, he has held the lawyer’s coveted “AV” rating from Martindale-Hubbell® for 20 years. Andy is co-author of two popular books, Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976-2008, which earned two literary awards in its first year of publication, and a lighter book of political anecdotes, Mississippi Fried Politics: Tall Tales from the Back Rooms. Andy has authored or co-authored works published by The University of Mississippi Law Journal, The Mississippi Lawyer, The Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences and The Journal of Mississippi History, and is a frequent contributor to other publications.
Andy serves on the Board of Trustees of his and Karen’s alma mater, Mississippi College, where he is Chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee. Previously, he served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, and as Chairman of the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership.
He was elected to a term on the Madison County Board of Supervisors. Andy was elected President of that Board in 2007, where he served until the end of his term in 2008.
Andy Taggart has been married to Karen for 36 years, and they are parents to three sons and now proud grandparents of a baby girl. Andy received his Juris Doctor cum laude from Tulane University School of Law in 1984, and he is a 1979 graduate of Mississippi College, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with High Honors and Distinction."
Why are you running for Attorney General?
"Beyond Andy Taggart’s professional achievements, and potentially more important than any of them, is his tireless commitment to serving his community and the way he engages with young people he meets along the way. From Cubmaster to Eagle Scout Mentor, from youth hunt leader to baseball coach, from career advisor to passionate crusader against substance abuse, Andy has been leading, serving and advocating for young people for most of his life. Friends remember when Taggart, coaching his sons’ youth league baseball teams, ran from the dugout to his position coaching third base yelling, “I love this game!” all along the way. Andy Taggart is a man who has gone through more than most and is redeeming his family’s story to make Mississippi a better place. This is the man we need as our next Attorney General.
A leader as passionate about Mississippi's future as some are about our past. As your next Attorney General, I will use my 34 years of legal experience, a lifetime of fighting for conservative Republican values and a real vision for leading Mississippi out of the past and into a better future.
1. God is in control, win or lose.
2. Evil is real.
3. The world is broken.
4. Redemption trumps condemnation.
5. We miss our son, every day.
6. We all owe the duty to serve in our community, state or nation.
7. Government is too powerful; it must always be limited.
8. The courts are the great limiters of government power in this country.
9. The criminal justice system is the great enforcer of the law in this country.
10. Government officials must strictly obey the law.
11. People who make mistakes should not be treated the same as people who do evil.
12. The scourge of drugs is the greatest earthly threat to our children and our community.
13. The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
14. People hate lawyers until they need one.
15. Windshields are bigger than rearview mirrors; our future is more important than our past.
16. Our old state flag should be retired with dignity to our new Museum of Mississippi History.
17. Mississippi needs a practicing attorney and proven advocate as the State’s lawyer.
18. The Attorney General’s office should not be a political stepping-stone.
19. We need an Attorney General who has ridden Route 66, by motorcycle.
20. Jesus loves me, this I know.
21. God is in control, win or lose."
