The chairman of the Libertarian party of Lauderdale County is running for mayor of Meridian.

Mariner Durant grew up in the city and is a graduate of Meridian Community College. He says one of his main goals as mayor would be to turn Meridian into a business magnet for small business owners and industry. He says he believes by doing so more people will get jobs and stop committing crimes. Durant also says he thinks having a Libertarian in office would be good for the area.

"America is very divided right now and I think the more third party and independent candidates get elected, the division will begin to fade away and we'll all start to look at ourselves as Americans again," said Durant.

In addition to Durant, William Compton has qualified to run as a Republican and Allen Shute has qualified to run as a Democrat.