LAUREL — Hattiesburg businessman Joe Tegerdine is one of two Republicans hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) this November.

Tegerdine, who was born in Portland, Ore., said he decided to run for office after being involved with the 9-12 Tea Party Movement.

“It got to the point that I realized that if I didn’t do something, I wouldn’t have a country to pass down to my children,” he said. “A lot of my generation believe that if we stay focused on our career and raise a family, we can get involved with politics when we get older.”

Tegerdine, who has been living in Mississippi since 2007, said that he began to feel that the district didn’t have adequate representation following a confrontation with Taylor.

“Anybody who’s been in Washington for too long becomes out of touch with people in the district,” he said. “ People started asking me if I would ever run for Congress. After some thought and prayer and discussion with my wife, I decided to run.”

Tegerdine noted that even Republican leadership told him that Taylor would never be beat.

“I ran based purely because it was the right thing to do,” he said. “I believed that if I ran the right kind of campaign, I could beat Taylor.”

Tegerdine said he is running on fiscal discipline and limited government, two things he feels are being ignored in Washington, D.C.

“The main things we have to do right now to restore our economic and spiritual prosperity is reduce the size of government and reduce spending,” he said. “I want to put in place an attitude of limited government. I want to let the state self determine laws and what’s best for the local population.”

Tegerdine noted that he is running on a “very conservative platform.”

“I believe in upholding the Constitution,” he said. “If we did, we’d be much better off for it.”

Tegerdine said two things make him stand out against his primary opponent, State Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Biloxi).

“First, I’m the people’s candidate,” he said. “Our campaign and the way we’ve conducted ourselves for this year are by the people and for the people.”

Tegerdine said he also has a game plan that is not driven by big business.

“All these platitudes sound good, but when the rubber meets the road, what’s your strategy when you get to Congress,” he said. “That’s important. Joe’s the guy who’s going to listen to his constituents and has a game plan to get things done.”

When it comes to one of the state’s most pressing issues, the BP oil spill off the Gulf Coast, Tegerdine said he is not approaching it as a candidate but a citizen.

“I went through training to get my OSHA certification,” he said. “I also talked with one of the directors from the Marine Mammal Institute. I would be able to go and clean up animals if they need help doing that.”

Tegerdine said he’s also encouraged all of his volunteers to get their certification.

“We’re on alert to clear times on our schedule to help clean up when the call comes,” he said. “But, people should remember the families first of all that lost loved ones in the oil blast. A lot of people are going to hurt and hurt for a long time.”

Tegerdine said he was living in Seattle during the Exxon Valdez disaster and knew of fishermen that lost their jobs during that time.

“In drilling for oil, there is risk involved and these things will happen,” he said. “It’s a knee-jerk reaction, but we should stay away from shutting it down.

“We have to continue to make the U.S. energy independent,” Tegerdine added. “Being dependent on foreign oil presents a much larger risk to our security as a nation.”

Tegerdine said the focus in the 4th Congressional District has not been on job creation.

“With my background in business and international markets, I would build some long-term manufacturing jobs here in Southern Mississippi,” he said. “If we had that, we’d have more flexibility when disasters like this occur.”

Tegerdine will speak at a Town Hall Forum at 6 p.m. Monday at the Sharon Community Center on Sharon-Moss Road. For more information, call 1-877-583-JOET (5638) or www.joetegerdine.com.