U.S. Rep. Michael Guest pushing back on what he calls ‘mistruths’ being put out by his opponent ahead of upcoming runoff

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - In less than a week voters will be heading back out to the polls.

This time it’ll be to vote in a runoff to see who will run on the republican ticket in the race for Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District.

The two candidates are incumbent Michael Guest and his challenger Michael Cassidy, who was the leading vote-getter during the June 7th primary.

Less than 300 votes separated the two.

The incumbent, Congressman Guest said he’s now spending time on the campaign trail working to distinguish himself from his opponent and refute what he calls “mistruths” being spread by his opponent.

“False allegations saying that we support Planned Parenthood, that we’re not pro-life,” said Guest. “He was able to confuse many voters about what we actually supported on the January 6th Commission versus the January 6th Committee, we worked very hard to try and dispel some of that.”

When it comes to the January 6th Commission, Guest said he voted on a bipartisan law enforcement commission, and not the current committee that we have today.

“What I voted for was strictly in line with what President (Donald) Trump is now talking about, which would have been a group with equal representation, not led by politicians, but led by law enforcement officers, limited subpoena power, and a very limited window in which they could have conducted their investigation,” said Guest. “I feel like that was the right decision then, and I still feel like that’s the right decision now.”

If elected, Guest said he plans on voting to disassemble the current committee that’s in place.

Guest’s challenger also accuses him of supporting Planned Parenthood.

However, Guest is also refuting that claim.

“What he is alleging, and again, it’s complete dis-information, because I voted to fund the entire government, me along with every other member of the Mississippi Delegation... that is somehow a vote for Planned Parenthood,” said Guest. “There are no line items in the federal budget that Planned Parenthood receives any federal dollars directly from government spending. I will put my pro-life record up against his non-record any day of the week. I have the endorsement of the National Right to Life. I have the Right of Susan B. Anthony. I have a zero ranking with Planned Parenthood.”

The U.S. Congressman said if voters send him back up to Washington, there are a few issues he wants to tackle. One is ways to secure the southern border.

“Day 1, if the Republicans retake the House of Representatives, we will be moving very aggressively to do things such as address the current crisis along the southwest border,” said Guest. The last count we had was 234,000 immigrants that came across our border in a single month, almost a quarter of a million immigrants. We cannot continue to handle the surge that we’re seeing.”

Guest said he also plans to address inflation costs that are impacting households throughout the country.

“We’ve got to bring gas prices down,” Guest explained. “We must continue to drill, we must continue to produce our energy needs domestically, not depending on other countries. We cannot continue with unnecessary spending and add trillions in new spending which is what my opponent is proposing.”

Guest is seeking his third term and believes his experience, and the work he’s already done in Washington is one of the advantages he has over his opponent.

“I think I am the most conservative candidate in this race,” said Guest. “I am someone who has spent my entire life here in Mississippi. Instead of standing on his record and his giant spending plan that he proposed, instead, he wants to attack me and wants to attack me and my family, and my conservative record, that’s all he has. He is nothing more than an empty suit who is spewing accusations every day, and I hope the people of Mississippi will not fall for what he is trying to peddle.”

The runoff will take place on June 28th.

Any registered voter can vote in a runoff, even if they did not vote in the primary.

If a voter did vote in the primary, they cannot crossover and vote in the other party’s runoff, meaning if you voted for a Republican candidate in the primary, you cannot vote for a Democrat in a runoff, and vice-versa.

Coming up on Thursday, WLBT speaks with Michael Cassidy to get his thoughts on the upcoming runoff and to take a look at how things have been going for him while on the campaign trail.

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