Housing

Growing up, my family moved from plantation to plantation—wherever my dad could find work as a tractor driver. One of the houses we lived in was nothing more than a shack on a dirt road beside a cotton field. When we first moved in, there wasn’t even an indoor bathroom. Eventually, the plantation owner knocked a hole in the wall and pulled up a portable bathroom to cover the opening. That’s how we made it work.

That experience taught me something I’ve never forgotten: housing is more than just a roof over your head—it’s the foundation for everything else in life. It determines what kind of jobs you can access, which schools your children can attend, and what kind of community you live in. That’s why we must get housing policy right—at both the state and federal level.

My first priority is making sure that every Mississippian has access to safe, affordable housing—housing that provides basic comforts, dignity, and access to opportunity. Whether you live on the Gulf Coast, in the Delta, or anywhere in between, you should be able to find a decent home and afford your rent or mortgage without fear of losing everything.

Right now, the United States faces a shortage of over 7 million affordable rental homes for extremely low-income families. Here in Mississippi, for every 100 families in need, there are only 58 affordable and available rental homes. That means too many of our neighbors are living in unsafe, overcrowded, or unstable conditions—or at risk of homelessness altogether.

That’s unacceptable. I know what it means to live in housing that’s falling apart, and I won’t accept that reality for any Mississippi family.

As your next U.S. Senator, I’ll fight to:

• Ensure access to affordable housing that provides safety and essential comforts for all Mississippi families.

• Update FEMA rules so that homeowners along the Gulf Coast can repair and upgrade their homes to meet safety codes and better withstand storms.

• Support new construction, infill development, and the rehabilitation of older homes—so that more people will be encouraged to move to Mississippi or return home to take advantage of our state’s affordability.

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I’ll also work to cut taxes for middle-class families and push for increased federal funding for affordable housing—because no one should have to choose between paying rent and putting food on the table.

We can—and we must—build a Mississippi where every family has a safe place to call home.