Randy Wadkins wants Mississippi voters to cast their ballots for him in his race for United States Senate.

The only problem is Wadkins is running in the state’s 1st Congressional District against incumbent Republican Rep. Trent Kelly.

Wadkins suffered the Pelosi-esque brain freeze as he shot a recent campaign video and the embarrassing mix-up was posted to YouTube by America Rising PAC, which “sole purpose is to hold Democrats accountable and expose hidden hypocrisy.”



“If you’re going to video tape me you should get me good side,” Wadkins joked as he prepped for the camera.

“Hey, my name is Randy Wadkins,” he continued, pointing at the camera in a very poorly lit shot. “I am the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate, or um … sorry, let’s back up.”

His supporters on site laughed it off.

“Be careful,” one said.

“Let’s try it again. Cut,” Wadkins said, switching to a two finger point for the second take.

“I am the United States House of Representatives candidate from the uh, um …,” he said before tossing his hands up in the air in defeat.

His supporter stepped in to finish what Wadkins apparently could not.

“I’ll tell you who he is. His name is Randy Wadkins and he’s the Democratic nominee for Congress in the First Congressional District. He’s the guy, even though he might have had some difficulty getting that out.”

Wadkins is attempting to unseat Kelly in the deeply Republican district. Kelly won the seat in a June 2, 2015 special election with 70 percent of the vote, and he was reelected in 2016 with 68 percent of the vote, according to Ballotpedia.

Wadkins is a 53-year-old chemistry professor at Ole Miss with a research focus on antitumor drugs used to treat cancer. A stint as a Science & Technology Congressional Fellow in Washington, D.C. for Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen “inspired me to run for Congress myself, to represent my home district in Mississippi,” Wadkins wrote on his Crowdpac fundraising site.

So far, he’s raised just over $34,000 toward his $50,000 fundraising goal. His website claims more than $120,000 in additional donations.

His campaign slogan: “A New Kind of Democrat – Optimist, Pragmatist, Scientist.”