Brandon Presley, who is challenging incumbent Tate Reeves for governor on Nov. 7, talks with local businessman Bill Arlinghaus following a campaign event at Dumont Plaza on Wednesday.

Mississippi gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley encouraged supporters to knock on doors and work the phones to increase voter turnout as campaigns hit the final stretch before the election.

Less than two weeks remain until the Nov. 7 general election, when voters will choose Presley or his incumbent opponent Republican Tate Reeves to be governor. Normally a safe haven for Republican candidates, recent polling shows a much more contested race between the two candidates.

“We know that if more people show up to vote, we’ve got a better chance to win,” Presley said. “When folks sit home, we’ve got a worse chance to win. It’s just that simple.”

Speaking at Dumont Plaza on Wednesday, Presley said this year’s election wasn’t Democrat versus Republican. Instead, he said, it was the people of Mississippi versus a corrupt political class.

“This race is about those of us on the outside versus those on the inside that have ran the state of Mississippi for long enough,” he said.

If elected, Presley said he would call a special session of the Legislature to pass an ethics reform package limiting the ability of lobbyists to wine and dine legislators and would require each senator and representative to vote on the record for or against it.

“We’re going to see whether or not they’re on the side of the people or on the side of the special interests. They will have to have one vote,” he said. “We’re not going to let them get it confused with other votes. They’re not going to be able to hide, and they’re not going to be able to run. We’re going to see whether or not they want to restrict lobbyists from having unlimited access.”

Presley also called for the elimination of the grocery tax, which is one of the highest in the nation at 7%, reducing the cost of car tags, fully funding Mississippi’s public schools, and expanding Medicaid.

“It doesn’t matter who the politician is that passed it. We ought to want to do the right thing for the people of Mississippi,” he said. “Medicaid expansion not only will help 250,000 Mississippians get healthcare, we can save our hospitals and create 16,000 healthcare jobs.”

A former mayor of Nettleton and Public Service Commissioner for the Northern District, Presley earned recognition for his efforts to bring high-speed internet to rural areas of the state. On Wednesday he pledged to build on that record and actively seek out ways to develop bipartisan solutions with state Republicans and Independents that will benefit the people of Mississippi.

“We’re going to find those ways that Democrats and Republicans can work together, and we’re going to get about the business of cleaning up the state of Mississippi and handing it back to the people,” he said.