One of Jones County’s own who is running for state office returned home to stump in Laurel at the Open Air Curb Market on Cross Street on Monday morning.

Rickey Cole is running for Mississippi’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce on the Democratic ticket against Republican incumbent Lester Spell and Mississippi Constitution Party candidate Paul Leslie Riley.

“Jones County is and always will be my home, and you all will always be my home folks,” Cole said.

Cole wants to be the first statewide-elected official from the Pine Belt region in a number of years. “There has not been a statewide-elected official from Jones County since Carroll Gartin in the 1960s,” Cole said. “There has not been a statewide-elected official from the Pine Belt since Ed Pittman ended his time as attorney general in 1988.”

“I intend to stand up for South Mississippi, and I intend to represent the people of rural Mississippi and small-town Mississippi,” Cole said.

Cole said he wants to promote small business and entrepreneurship in Mississippi instead of only trying to attract big corporations. “Agriculture is the state’s largest industry,” Cole said.

A number of Laurel city officials attended the rally and endorsed Cole including Mayor Melvin Mack and Laurel City Council members Willie Evans, George Carmichael, Manuel Jones and Felecia Breland. Jones County Supervisor Jerome Wyatt also endorsed Cole.

Jones County Democratic Party Chairman Larry Coleman said, “I would not be here this morning giving all these accolades and saying good things about Rickey if I didn’t believe in him, and I certainly believe in him.”