By Billy Davis

Improving public education and increasing access to healthcare are among issues being discussed on the campaign trail by Cobby Williams, an Independent candidate running for Congress.

Williams, 36, is seeking the 2nd Congressional District seat currently held by longtime incumbent Bennie Thompson.

Williams, of Canton, will be on the November 6 ballot along with Thompson, a Democrat, Republican challenger Bill Marcy of Vicksburg and Reform candidate Lajena Williams.  

Thompson, who has more than $1 million in his campaign war chest, is expected to win re-election over his sparsely funded challengers. He was first elected in 1993.

Williams has spent approximately $8,000 so far to reach voters while Marcy has spent $5,200 according to opensecrets.org, a Web site that follows campaign contributions.

According to Williams, the 2nd District is poised for a change after experiencing ongoing joblessness and an exodus of people over the past decade.

“Our district needs repairing,” said Williams. “I’m ready to get to work to do it.”

2010 census figures showed the 2nd District shrank by approximately 30,000 since 2000.

The 2nd District, already one of the largest in the country, has taken in Panola and other hill counties to distribute Mississippi’s population among its four congressional districts.

The district has “double-digit poverty” and several generations of people who are trapped in a cycle of dependence on the federal government, Williams said.

“They don’t know there’s a way out,” he said. “They don’t know you don’t have to depend on the government.”

Williams said Thompson has done a “great job” with agriculture and gaming in the 2nd district, but he said the congressman “doesn’t have the fight and the drive anymore. It’s not there,” he said.

Williams said he leans Democrat but is running as an Independent in order to work with both Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

Williams said he recently worked as an urban planner for the federal government in Washington, D.C.

He is currently a substitute teacher and a motivational speaker during the campaign, he said.