In just more than a week, Mississippians will head to the poll in what will be a historic election.

For a state to have both of its U.S. senators up for grabs on the same ballot is rare and only occurs when unusual circumstances cause a disruption of the usual staggered terms.

The retirement earlier this year of longtime Sen. Thad Cochran, who stepped aside for health reasons, caused this year’s rare circumstance.

Today, we continue a series of articles looking at the basic platforms candidates for office have.

While we do not endorse candidates in statewide elections, we strongly encourage voters to get informed and understand the characteristics of the candidates.

We hope that the candidates who ultimately are victorious are people who aim to unite our country and state, not further divide them.

Our country is practically bursting with divisiveness. We fear if the extremes of our society continue to tug and push and pull and tear at our country, the middle core may begin to weaken further.

We need our country to mend our differences, find our common civility and begin moving forward with our future — together.

And that can all begin by exercising our brains and our rights to vote on Election Day and choosing the best candidates to lead our country, not divide it.