Dupree touts he ‘never raised taxes’ as Mayor

Dupree touts he ‘never raised taxes’ as Mayor

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
JACKSON — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Johnny DuPree said today that the most recent jobs report is more evidence that Mississippi needs a governor who has experience creating jobs and managing a budget during difficult economic times.

“One in 10 Mississippians do not have a job. Sadly, this statistic is about the same as it was before the recession hit in 2008. That means we’ve made absolutely no headway in the last four years,” DuPree said. “If we want to create jobs and get Mississippi’s economy moving, we need to focus on small business development and requiring large corporations who locate to Mississippi to hire Mississippi workers.”

DuPree said his work as mayor of Hattiesburg over the past 10 years gives him the unique experience needed to provide an atmosphere in Mississippi that will make job creation easier.

During his 10-year tenure, Mayor DuPree has led the City of Hattiesburg through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the national recession. Despite these hardships, they created thousands of jobs, never raised taxes, never cut services and never laid off employees. Last year, during the worst part of the recession, they created 1,000 jobs. They have already created another 1,000 jobs this year.

“If we want to create jobs, we have to work where the most jobs are created, and that’s in the realm of small businesses. More than 95 percent of job creators are small businesses,” DuPree said.

Since he first announced his candidacy, DuPree has advocated offering the same kind of incentives to small businesses that the state currently offers to large corporations.

Johnny DuPree led the Democratic primary with nearly 45 percent of the vote. He received more votes than any other candidate — Democrat or Republican — running for governor. DuPree received nearly 4,000 more votes than the Republican nominee and more than 16,000 more votes than the closest Democratic challenger.

DuPree is serving his third term as mayor of Hattiesburg. Prior to that he served three terms as a member of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors and one term as president of the Hattiesburg School Board. He is a former president of the Mississippi Municipal League. Mayor DuPree is also a small business owner and real estate agent.

For more information about the DuPree for Governor campaign, please contact Campaign Manager Sam R. Hall at sam@johnnydupree.com or visit http://www.johnnydupree.com.

8/10/11