Tiffany Longino, a Republican running for lieutenant governor, wants to expand Medicaid

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Meet Tiffany Longino, the only female and African American running for Lt. Governor this year.

“I am a longtime resident of Brandon, Mississippi,” she says. “I am married to my wonderful husband Brandon. We have our children, I am an educator and have been for 18 years.”

Her name might not sound familiar, and that’s because she has not held a political office before. But that’s something Longino says gives her an advantage over her fellow Republican candidates.

“I don’t want people to equate experience with quality or effectiveness,” she explains. “It doesn’t take a genius to understand that when you draft legislation, you have to go out in the community and see and talk and survey your people to see their needs, not sit high and low, and compose and draft legislation. And so I think sometimes not being a professional of something gives you a standpoint of not being bias.”

After being in the classroom for nearly two decades across the country, legislation surrounding education is at the top of her priority list.

“We know that education decreases poverty and crime. And so if we’re failing in education, then we’re failing as a state. Mr. Hosemann discusses that, you know, teachers received a pay raise - and that is correct. However, everyone didn’t get a pay raise. College instructors did not get a pay raise.”

Second on the list?

“The second priority for me is to make Jackson a safer city. That is one of our biggest revenues.”

Healthcare has been a hot topic at the State Capitol. Despite the push back from other Republicans, Longino wants to see Medicaid expanded.

“We have 50-percent of Mississippians that suffer from diabetes. We, as you all know, have the highest teen pregnancy rate, STDs and AIDS.”

Come August 8, Longino has one request for voters: “You should vote for me because I want to put the public back into public policy.”

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