Mississippi's Republican U.S. Senator Roger Wicker returns to Washington for another term after defeating a democratic state legislator. MPB's Desare Frazier reports.
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker claimed an early victory over his opponent Democrat David Baria, with the Associated Press calling the race by 8:30 Tuesday night. Wicker, a native of Pontotoc, touted his support for confirming conservative judges and supporting President Donald Trump and the recent tax cuts. Wicker thanked his family and staff for their support and says Mississippians will be hearing about more jobs coming to the state.
"Starting tomorrow, we're going to go to Forrest, Mississippi and announce a bunch of new jobs and making America stronger with Raytheon, that adds to what we're doing with military manufacturing with the Ships Act with a 1,000 new jobs at least in Mississippi and making our national defense stronger," said Wicker.
State Representative David Baria, of Bay St. Louis described his campaign as a grassroots effort that focused on fully funding education, expanding access to healthcare and improving infrastructure. He told supporters their hard work has helped lay the foundation to make Democrats more effective in running for statewide office.
"Together we built something we can improve and sustain so that we can carry this success into next year when we elect a new legislature and all new statewide officers," said Baria.
Senator Roger Wicker says he excited about a possible leadership role as chairman of the senate's Commerce Committee. He says in that role he'll work to bring broadband to rural Mississippi and all of rural America.
