Michael Cassidy (Mississippi)

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Michael Cassidy
Image of Michael Cassidy
Elections and appointments
Last election

November 7, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

Virginia Tech, 2009

Graduate

Harvard University, 2018

Personal
Birthplace
Annapolis, Md.
Religion
Christian
Profession
Pilot
Contact

Michael Cassidy (Republican Party) ran for election to the Mississippi House of Representatives to represent District 45. He lost in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Biography

Michael Cassidy was born in Annapolis, Maryland. Cassidy has served in the U.S. Navy.[1] He earned a bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech in 2009 and a graduate degree from Harvard University in 2018. Cassidy's career experience includes working as a test pilot.[2]

Elections

2023

See also: Mississippi House of Representatives elections, 2023

General election

General election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 45

Keith Jackson defeated Michael Cassidy and Trent Rickles in the general election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 45 on November 7, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Keith Jackson (D)
 
55.6
 
3,723
Image of Michael Cassidy
Michael Cassidy (R)
 
37.6
 
2,515
Image of Trent Rickles
Trent Rickles (Independent) Candidate Connection
 
6.8
 
457

Total votes: 6,695
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Mississippi House of Representatives District 45

Keith Jackson defeated Kenny Rush in the Democratic primary for Mississippi House of Representatives District 45 on August 8, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Keith Jackson
 
55.1
 
1,905
Kenny Rush
 
44.9
 
1,552

Total votes: 3,457
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Mississippi House of Representatives District 45

Michael Cassidy advanced from the Republican primary for Mississippi House of Representatives District 45 on August 8, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Michael Cassidy
Michael Cassidy
 
100.0
 
1,794

Total votes: 1,794
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Cassidy in this election.

2022

See also: Mississippi's 3rd Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Mississippi District 3

Incumbent Michael Guest defeated Shuwaski Young in the general election for U.S. House Mississippi District 3 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Michael Guest
Michael Guest (R)
 
70.7
 
132,481
Image of Shuwaski Young
Shuwaski Young (D) Candidate Connection
 
29.3
 
54,803

Total votes: 187,284
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Mississippi District 3

Incumbent Michael Guest defeated Michael Cassidy in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Mississippi District 3 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Michael Guest
Michael Guest
 
67.4
 
47,007
Image of Michael Cassidy
Michael Cassidy Candidate Connection
 
32.6
 
22,713

Total votes: 69,720
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 3

Shuwaski Young advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 3 on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
Image of Shuwaski Young
Shuwaski Young Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 3

Incumbent Michael Guest and Michael Cassidy advanced to a runoff. They defeated Thomas Griffin in the Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 3 on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Michael Guest
Michael Guest
 
47.5
 
23,675
Image of Michael Cassidy
Michael Cassidy Candidate Connection
 
46.9
 
23,407
Image of Thomas Griffin
Thomas Griffin Candidate Connection
 
5.6
 
2,785

Total votes: 49,867
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Michael Cassidy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Candidate Connection

Michael Cassidy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cassidy's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I'm a former Navy F/A-18 pilot and an America First conservative. I served twelve years in the Navy before leaving active duty last year. I still fly as an instructor pilot in the Navy Reserves, and am also a civilian test pilot at Naval Air Station Meridian. I decided to run for office because I am fed up with establishment politicians, such as our own RINO Congressman, Michael Guest, who are unwilling to fight for true America First values and who are unwilling to fight against the Left. Our district should have a more capable, more dedicated leader representing it in Washington, D.C. than Mr. Guest and I can be that person.

  • We must elect America First Republicans to Washington D.C. and get rid of RINOs like Michael Guest who voted for the January 6th committee to politically attack President Trump
  • We must ensure the integrity of our elections in 2022, 2024, and beyond, and fully investigate the 2020 election and ensure full accountability. Mr. Guest has backed zero initiatives on election integrity, we need someone different who will work for this
  • We must finish the wall, send troops to the southern border, and deport everyone who is in this country illegally. Mr. Guest is pro-amnesty and wants to increase the number of foreign workers in our country (the top source of illegal immigration is visa overstays).

The military. The Department of Defense needs to be completely reformed to ensure that every dollar spent and every policy initiated has the overriding goal of increasing our military's strength. There is far too much bureaucracy, apathy, incompetence, cronyism, and misguided policy that must be fixed. Our current representative, Mr. Guest, has no military background and no understanding of how to make our military strong. He has also ignored the thousands of patriots being kicked out of the military for not taking the COVID vaccine, and has not committed to help those who have been kicked out when the GOP takes control of the House in 2023.

A lifetime of dedication to the nation, demonstrated by my willingness to lay down my life for my country as a fighter pilot and instructor pilot my entire adult life. Our current representative, Mr. Guest, is a lawyer by background. Nearly half of the people in Congress are lawyers, and how has that been going for our country? We need more veterans in Congress; we can provide a much needed breath of fresh air in Washington.

To faithfully serve the citizens of the district they represent and to prudently legislate on behalf of the country.

The earliest event that I remember well was September 11th, 2001. It inspired me to join the military to protect my country against those who would do her harm.

The Bible. It is the source document for our salvation.

I would seek to join the Armed Services Committee, specifically the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, where I could best use my experience as a Navy fighter pilot. I would also like to be on the Appropriations Committee, and its Subcommittee on Defense.

I 100% support immediate term limits for RINOs like Michael Guest. Furthermore, it is healthy for the Republic to prevent politicians from keeping the same position in government for decades. Just as we have term limits for the President, we should have term limits for the House and the Senate.

I admire the steadfastness of former Congressman Ron Paul, who ignored the Establishment and fought for what he believed to be right regardless of whatever pressure leadership would put on him.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.



Campaign website

Cassidy's campaign website stated the following:

Election Integrity

We cannot allow any future election to be conducted like the election of 2020. The lack of oversight, the illegal actions of numerous states, and the vast potential for fraud via "drop box" voting and lack of signature verification for absentee ballots must never be tolerated again. I plan to propose election integrity legislation that, for all federal elections, will:

  • Require state or federal voter ID to be shown at the polling station
  • Ban ballot drop boxes and require that all requests for absentee ballots be made in person, every election cycle, and that rigorous signature verification methods are used
  • Require all ballots be paper, not electronic, and that the paper and ink used be made specifically for those ballots to prevent counterfeit ballots
  • Require municipalities to scrub voter rolls annually for deaths, moves, etc.
  • Ban all convicted felons from voting
  • Ensure transparency and oversight by requiring video cameras at all polling stations to record counting. The overwhelming majority of poll workers are volunteers and patriots, but this will nonetheless give Americans greater confidence in election security, which we desperately need.

Immigration

At least 1.5 million new immigrants arrived into our country in the last year alone. That’s more than twice the population of the entire Mississippi 3rd Congressional District. Foreign-born citizens vote nearly 80% Democratic, a key reason why Democratic politicians love immigration. It's inexcusable for Republican politicians like Mr. Guest to be ambivalent to this fact. One of the main issues in this campaign is whether we want to continue to allow millions of foreigners into this country, legally and illegally, to depress wages, increase housing costs, commit crimes, and add to the Democratic Party's voting rolls.

The Republican majority in 2023 should commit to the following platform:

  • A total legal immigration moratorium for the next decade
    • Immigration has historically been a massive benefit for America. But our nation has not been able to fully assimilate many of the tens of millions who have arrived in recent years. Immigration is no longer a good thing for America. It was, but it isn't any longer.
  • Deport all foreigners who are in our country illegally
  • Finish the wall immediately to stop the hundreds of thousands of migrants the Border Patrol doesn't catch
  • Supplement the Border Patrol with American troops to protect OUR border, not some border on the other side of the world
  • End birthright citizenship, which draws so many foreigners to our country
  • Mandatory e-verify for all businesses and governments. Heavy fines or prison for those who do not comply.
    • Create a bounty system similar to the Texas abortion law that allows citizens to receive compensation for whistle-blowing on companies that hire illegal aliens
  • Dramatically reduce the number of foreign students from threat nations such as China and Iran
    • The failure to protect the Manhattan Project from Soviet espionage was one of the most disastrous national security failures in our history and we must reduce the risk this happens again


Military

The military exists for two purposes - to deter others from attacking our nation, and should deterrence fail, then to achieve overwhelming victory in combat. All policies, all funding, all actions must be with the following bedrock principle in mind: does it enhance the lethality of our military, or does it not? Too often that principle is nowhere to be found in today's upper-level leadership. When leadership does not adhere to this core truth, and instead looks to the dogmas of diversity, inclusion, equity, and climate change, they weaken our military, which reduces our chance of victory in combat and makes our nation less secure. We must:

  • End all wokeism, Diversity/Inclusion/Equity indoctrination, and using race and sex as factors in promotion and job qualification
  • Focus on retaining our top talent that has been leaving the military in droves
  • Stop our unsustainable deployment cycles and spend more time on maintenance and training
  • Slash administrative overhead
  • Reform the acquisitions process
  • End the COVID mandate and offer re-instatement with back pay to everyone kicked out for vaccine refusal, change any discharges to honorable discharges, and restore their veterans benefits


Education

The education of our nation's youth is among the most vital tasks for any society. The purpose of education is to instill knowledge, teach critical thinking skills, to pass on the values of our nation and community. For too long conservatives have believed in a "values-neutral," or hands-off approach to public education. This approach has allowed the neo-Marxist doctrines of the Left such as Critical Race Theory and anti-American propaganda such as the 1619 project into our schools. This cannot continue. Republicans must pass legislation at both a local and federal level that:

  • Bans Critical Race Theory from being taught, other than an example of anti-Americanism, at all educational levels
    • It is evil to indoctrinate children to hate themselves and to be ashamed of their ancestors and of their nation
  • Bans Affirmative Action and any race or sex based preference system for students, teachers, and administrators at all educational levels
  • Ensures teachers post course curriculums publicly, so parents can see what is being taught
  • Restricts sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms to those of same biological sex at all education levels

I support legislation that would give a $7500 tax deduction to parents who homeschool their children or send them to private schools.

We must create programs and trade schools in high school and for recent high school graduates that lead to apprenticeships in blue collar jobs that don't require college, such as plumbers, electricians, farmers, mechanics, etc.


Protecting Children

Perhaps the biggest failing of conservatives has been their inability to conserve family values and to protect our children from Leftist social values. While we on the Right traditionally have been hesitant to use the government to legislate morality, the inescapable truth is that when we take a hands-off approach, the Left swoops in and implements their progressively more twisted social doctrines among our youth. We have a moral obligation to oppose this madness. To be clear, we should treat all people equally and with dignity, but that doesn't mean accepting their values or tolerating them being taught to our children. We must:

  • Ban transgender surgeries and puberty blockers for anyone under 18
  • Ban the promotion of sexual orientation and gender identity for young children, as they've done in Florida
  • Require phone and computer companies to create a parental control overlay on all phones, tablets, etc. that would allow parents to block TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and other social media for those under 18
  • Investigate Netflix for being a distributor of child pornography for its "Cuties" special, plus any other companies that have distributed similar material


Energy Independence

Current events have demonstrated the urgent need for America to become energy independent. Our national security (as well as that of Europe) suffers when other nations, such as Russia and Saudi Arabia, have the ability to steer our foreign policy due to our fear of what they might do to us economically. The United States have been blessed with an incredible supply of natural resources; our government is negligent when it decides not to use them out of a misplaced desire to rapidly transition to unreliable "green" energy. We must slash bureaucratic red tape within the energy sector, particularly within the nuclear sector, and become an energy powerhouse once more.


Opioid Epidemic

Over 100,000 Americans died from overdoses in the last year, a number that continues to skyrocket. More Americans aged 18-45 died of fentanyl overdoses than died of COVID in the last two years. The vast majority of illegal drugs such as fentanyl are produced in China and Mexico and then smuggled across the Southern Border.

We must also care for our fellow citizens who have become afflicted with an addiction pushed on them by a combination of the ambivalence of our leaders and the greed of drug smugglers. We should provide detox treatment for all affected citizens and make methadone and other drugs that help addiction available at a reduced price.

We must also give law enforcement the tools to aggressively go after drug dealers, including ensuring high mandatory minimum prison sentences.


COVID-19

We also must:

  • Ensure military members are offered to be re-instated if they were kicked out for not getting the vaccine
  • Punish China for unleashing the virus on the world
  • Emphasize the importance of a healthy diet, regular exercise, and sleep for giving your body the best chance to deal with COVID, or any disease


Law and Order

Great countries do not permit their cities to be looted and put to flame without consequence. All people regardless of wealth or race want safe neighborhoods for their families and friends to live in. We need politicians in Washington who will not simply give empty platitudes about this problem; we need people who will push for both new laws and rigorous enforcement of existing laws. Think of the looters, arsonists, murderers, and other criminals who went unpunished by the Left in 2020, and understand that they are preparing for a second round. Never forget that you deserve to live in a safe country. I support:

  • Keeping convicted criminals locked up instead of releasing them early to commit more crimes
  • Eliminating so-called sanctuary cities for immigration, crime, etc. Charge local officials with sedition (interference with the laws of the United States) for those who do not comply.
  • Mandatory minimums for mob destruction of statues, infrastructure, and houses of worship - automatic 10 years in jail plus the cost of repair


The American Dream

The American Dream has been made progressively harder in recent decades by terrible policies from both the Left and Right. We must decrease housing prices, raise wages, and incentivize family formation. We can do this by:

  • Banning corporations, hedge funds, and foreign entities from owning private residences and farmland, which will reduce demand in the housing market and thus lower prices
  • Deporting all illegals and vastly reducing the amount of legal foreign labor, which will also lower demand in the housing market and raise wages by tightening the labor market
  • Instituting targeted tariffs to bring back millions of jobs from overseas and improve our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign suppliers for vital products
  • Creating a maternal leave program with five years of benefits
  • Providing newlyweds with a $20,000 wedding gift, paid back if the couple divorces
  • Giving married citizens a $250/month stipend for children under 10, and $500/month for children 10-17


Agriculture

My mom grew up on a farm, and most of that part of my family have been farmers in the U.S. since before the Revolution. I have deep ties to farmers and farming, and I will not let them down. I support:

  • Ensuring farmers are protected from any retaliatory tariffs imposed by foreign nations
  • Making all federal agricultural policies race-neutral, unlike the Biden Administration which used racial preferences for debt relief and loans
  • Creating a 'Farmer GI Bill' that pays for young adults to stay on family farms or take over a retiring farmer's farm, with emphasis on training, income support, and innovation
  • Partially replacing foreign migrant labor on farms with paid prison labor (qualified by good behavior / nature of offense)
  • Developing summer work programs for teens and young adults at farms, subsidized by schools


Impeaching President Joe Biden

Although Republicans could hardly be faulted for wanting to impeach President Biden purely out of revenge based on the sham impeachments of President Trump, the impeachment and removal from office of President Biden is fully warranted and deserved based on the high crimes that he has committed against the American nation. Your prime duty as President is to protect the nation. And he has abdicated that solemn responsibility by:

  • Failing to protect our borders and refusing to deport millions of illegal immigrants
  • Actively encouraging the invasion, including giving free flights to settle this foreign population within our midst
  • Bringing in and granting parole status for tens of thousands of unvetted Afghans who have already committed heinous crimes against Americans since their arrival
  • Implementing unconstitutional vaccine mandates


Abortion

I fully support the Mississippi law currently before the Supreme Court, which bans most abortions after 15 weeks, but believe we can go further and emulate the Texas abortion law that bans most abortions after 6 weeks. Texas has seen abortions drop by 60% since the passage of the law. That's a good start.


2nd Amendment

As Congressman, I will:

  • Support nationwide concealed carry legislation
  • Prosecute those in the ATF who've been breaking the law and setting up a federal pseudo-registry of gun ownership
  • Oppose all so-called red flag laws


Drain the Swamp

Once in Congress I will support bills that include:

  • Banning Members of Congress, their staff, their spouses, and high-ranking Judicial and Executive Branch officials from financial dealings such as stock-trading
  • Completely reforming the FBI from top to bottom. It has been institutionally captured by the Left. It selectively prosecutes certain crimes while ignoring others, based on politics.
  • Banning all lobbying on behalf of foreign countries, corporations, or individuals
  • Re-instituting the civil service exam for bureaucrats, as well as making it easier to fire them
  • Giving freedom to every non-violent prisoner charged for January 6th
  • Creating a commission similar to the military's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission to investigate corruption, contractor price gouging, and to discover inefficiencies within the federal government[3]
—Michael Cassidy's campaign website (2022)[4]

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Michael Cassidy campaign website, "Meet Michael," April 19, 2022
  2. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 27, 2022
  3. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. Michael Cassidy for Mississippi 3rd, “On the Issues,” accessed April 9, 2022


Leadership
Speaker of the House:Jason White
Minority Leader:Robert Johnson
Representatives
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Jeff Hale (R)
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Joey Hood (R)
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Jill Ford (R)
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Vacant
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Bob Evans (D)
District 92
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Sam Mims (R)
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John Read (R)
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Republican Party (78)
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Independent (2)
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