Political Outsider Dana Criswell Wins in Mississippi

Dana Criswell Wins MS House of Representatives Primary, Stands Unchallenged in General Election On August 4th, Dana Criswell won the primary election for Republican candidate for the District 6 of the Mississippi House of Representatives by 13 percent. He is unchallenged in the upcoming general election. Until the last four or five years ago, Dana had never engaged in politics beyond voting. Dana’s interest in politics began with guns. Having grown up with guns, shooting them and learning about them from his grandfather, the issue of gun rights and protection of the Second Amendment is very close to Dana’s heart. He began by researching gun rights and related issues, which led him to found Mississippi Gun News, send emails to raise awareness, and contact politicians. As he became more aware of conservative issues, Dana and his wife became less satisfied with the direction in which they saw their country heading. “We began to wonder what to do. We had five children and one grandchild, and were hoping for a solution besides building our own place to live in the wilderness away from society,” Dana said. However, Dana realized that even conservative politicians vote out of pressure from their constituency rather than out of conscientious conservative values. “You can’t vote for the person who’s conservative and then expect them to vote that way anymore,” said Dana. “You have to apply pressure.” In the process of learning what he could do to apply that pressure, Dana attended the Empower Campaign School in Olive Branch, Mississippi in December 2014 where American Majority trained. “I had no plans to run at the time,” said Dana. “My reason for going was to learn how to pressure politicians to legislate more conservatively.” When he did decide to run for office at the beginning of 2015, Dana had never run a campaign but “learned everything as he went.” Meeting people and going door-to-door ended up becoming his main strategy and what he spent most of his time doing. His campaign had identified 4,500 or so likely voters. Between himself and his volunteers, the campaign was able to knock on nearly every door. Dana personally knocked on 3,500 doors. As he went, Dana was pleased to discover many who held the same conservative values that he did — people jaded by the system and ready for change. Dana won by close to 13 percent in the Republican primary. Although gun rights and individual liberty are his main passion, he hopes to address Common Core, particularly as he points out that the establishment in Mississippi has done nothing to challenge it. “Many people, including myself, are extremely dissatisfied,” said Dana. “Why tie decisions about what we’re teaching our kids to Washington, D.C.?” Since the election, Dana has discovered just how big the job of being a legislature is. Currently, he focuses his time on getting to know elected officials. As a representative, he believes in the importance of knowing and understanding the people around him who also represent the district. Before his election, Dana had focused on voters; now he believes it is time to familiarize himself with those representing them. As the November election draws near, he continues to engage in reaching out personally to his community. “Guns are a topic, but not the main issue. The issue is freedom and removing government from every aspect of people’s private lives. Letting people be free without government control is what matters most to me,” said Dana.