WEST POINT — West Point Mayor Drew Ferguson this week became the latest to announce a bid to replace outgoing Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Westmoreland, 65, said this month that he will retire at the end of the year after six terms as a congressman from Georgia’s third district.

Ferguson, a native of West Point and a dentist by trade, announced his candidacy in a press release. He said he wants to go to Washington to fight for better economic opportunities for the region.

“Washington is broken, and as a small businessman I know that what our communities need from Congress is that they get out of the way and let us create jobs and economic opportunity for our citizens,” Ferguson said in a release. “We are a conservative place, and I want to put conservative principles to work for the whole district like we have in West Point, where we have cut taxes and utility rates while creating an economic development boom.”

Ferguson has been mayor of West Point since 2008 and has partially overseen a time of economic growth in the city.

In 2003, the city of West Point took in a total of $2,548,236 in revenue, according to the city’s budget for that year. A decade later, in 2013, the city raised $5,078,780 in revenue. That’s a 199.3 percent increase — almost exactly double — over a 10-year period.

The city has also seen the resurgence of its downtown with the addition of Point University.

Ferguson has also served on numerous boards and professional groups, including the Troup County Center for Strategic Planning, the International College of Dentists and Gov. Nathan Deal’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.

He and his wife, Elizabeth, have four children: Drew, Lucy, Parks and Thad.

Ferguson joins state Sen. Mike Crane, a republican from Newnan and a general contractor, and Newnan businessman Richard Mix in the republican primary for Congress.

Read the weekend edition of LaGrange Daily News for information about Mix.