JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – WJTV 12 News spoke to Democratic candidate for State Auditor Larry Bradford about his vision for the office.

His campaign consists of four planks; ethics, accountability, transparency and accessibility.

The former mayor of Anguilla and Army veteran believes the best way the State Auditor’s office can serve the people is through education and access.

“I want to put a 24 hour hotline that an individual is able to call for 24 hours a day and that. And I want to make sure that no poll goes unanswered and unattended to. I would also like to have a mobile auditor’s office where we literally drive around, and we canvass the state, and we do pop ups to teach. We’re not coming in to try to find any trouble or get anybody in trouble. But we want to come in and teach and make sure that you’re checks and balances, and run a litmus test and make sure that it works. So, we can minimize our exposure to fraud and fiscal mismanagement. We can teach municipal and county government how to do business the right way. If we’re doing that, then that means that we’re not spending a lot of time posting mugshots. We’re not spending a lot of time in court,” said Bradford.

For Bradford, his approach to Mississippi’s largest issues is cooperation.

“I would definitely look for economic opportunities of growth. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel here. There are other states that that are similar to Mississippi that are agriculture based, and other states will have an issue as a brain drain. We’re really not looking if other than Alabama. This is Birmingham. They’ve turned it around. Let’s go and see what they’re doing. And maybe they’re doing something that we can incorporate that we can implement to help our state move forward. I believe that we have to be a situation that we learn from each other,” he said.

As a former elected official, Bradford believes he has the proven leadership necessary for the job.

“Everything rises and falls on leadership. If you showed me a strong leader in the House, I’ll show you a strong family, showed me a strong leader in the military, and I’ll show you a successful military that knows how to advance and win wars. Show me a successful president, and I’ll show you a successful country. If we have a strong, strong leadership and our government, this state goes to heights unknown,” Bradford said.

He is running against incumbent State Auditor Shad White (R-Miss.) in the General Election, which will be held on November 7, 2023.