Burton brings Senate campaign to Hernando

Photo: Ret. Col. Ghannon Burton, candidate for the Republican Party nod in the March 12 primary vote, stands next to his campaign bus at its stop in Hernando on Saturday, March. 9. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)

The campaign for U.S. Senate rolled into Hernando with a campaign bus on Saturday, March 9, in the final days ahead of the March 12 primary election. Retired Marine Corps Col. Ghannon Burton made a stop in the parking lot of the Hernando Post Office where he greeted supporters and talked about his candidacy for U.S. Senate. 

Burton, a Mississippi native who served in the Marine Corps as a fighter pilot and test pilot, is running in the Republican primary against incumbent Sen. Roger Wicker and state Rep. Dan Eubanks (R-Walls). The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Ty Pinkins in the November general election, as Pinkins is in the primary running unopposed.  

Burton said Saturday he is claiming a lot of support and momentum going into the Tuesday primary, much of it he said is due to dissatisfaction of the votes and positions of the incumbent Senator.  

“I knew going into this that if people knew that Colonel Burton was running and that Roger Wicker voted against Trump’s border wall back in 2018,” Burton said. “They just knew that I was from Mississippi and a five-time Combat Commander and Top Gun pilot that I would get 56 percent of the vote. I knew that going into it.” 

With a three-way race, one candidate will have to get one vote above 50 percent to avoid going into an April 2 runoff between the top two candidates.  

Burton aligns himself with much of former President Donald Trump’s policies and against what President Joe Biden has supported.  

“Our country has been destroyed and we’re telling folks, here’s what’s going on, here’s why it’s happening,” Burton said. “The open border, the fentanyl that is coming in, the inflation that’s through the roof because we allow global corporations to create choke points. All that is going on because we don’t have men and women of courage in Washington D.C.”  

Burton’s visit to Hernando came on one of the last days ahead of Election Day on March 12. The deadline to vote in person absentee was at 12 noon on Saturday, which Burton said he did on Friday. Voting hours on Tuesday are from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. 

Burton said his ground swell of support has come from volunteers calling on friends, but his bus tour has gone across the state trying to drum up more support.  

You can learn more about Gannon’s campaign by visiting his website.