Lesli Messinger, Democratic candidate for Georgia's 1st Congressional District seat in the U.S. House, will be a guest of the Liberty County Democratic Party tonight in Hinesville.

The group will host a meet and greet for local elected officials and candidates for office from 6-8 p.m. at the LaQuinta Inn on Highway 84 in Flemington.

Messinger, who won the 1st District's Democratic primary on July 31, is running on a platform that pledges to restore Democratic values in the district, and stimulate economic expansion and growth, especially in inland communities that need economic vitality.

"We can do this by boosting partnerships between regional development authorities and private sector entities that can help locate businesses in the district," Messinger says.

She is facing longtime incumbent Jack Kingston, R-Savannah.

"As a business owner myself, I know that companies would find the district a desirable place to locate, to gain access to Southeast markets.

The candidate says she seeks to boost federal resources to help veterans find employment, assist in retraining the long-term unemployed, and helping other vulnerable Americans in the current recession. She says she was encouraged by the recent "drop" in the jobless rate to below eight percent, but adds "we must do more."

Specifically, Messinger believes members of Congress must be "on the same page" with the administration, in efforts to resolve the economic stagnation that is destroying small businesses and eroding the middle class.

Messinger, who lives in Savannah, is originally from Ohio. A wife and mother of five, she is actively involved operating several businesses with her husband, which have created over 130 jobs in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Savannah.

For more information on tonight or Liberty County Democrats, call Charles Frasier, chairman of the group, at 977-4296.