Democrat Brandon Presley enters Mississippi governor's race

Brandon Presley, a Democrat and member of the Mississippi Public Service Commission, is running for governor, he announced Thursday morning.

"I’m running for Governor because I know Mississippi can do better," Presley said in a video released alongside his campaign announcement.

"Small towns like this one are the beating heart of Mississippi. Little dots on the map just struggling to stay there," Presley says as he drives through Nettleton, his hometown and the town of which he was mayor from 2001 to 2007.

"We’ve got a state filled with good people, but horrible politicians — and that includes our Governor," Presley says in the video.

He adds, "[Gov.] Tate Reeves is a man with zero conviction and maximum corruption. He looks out for himself and his rich friends instead of the people that put him into office. And he’s been caught in the middle of the largest public corruption scandal in state history."

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Presley is referring to the sitting governor, a Republican. Reeves has been accused to be involved with a large welfare embezzlement scandal. 

Reeves filed to run for re-election earlier this year and Presley is the first Democrat to announce a campaign against him. Presley is also well-known as a relative of Elvis Presley. Brandon's grandfather was the brother of Elvis' grandfather, according to the campaign.

Mississippi has not been led by a Democrat since 2004, when former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove completed his term. The state's governor's race is one of three gubernatorial contests in the U.S. this year, along with races in Louisiana and Kentucky.