Mississippi 2026 midterm elections guide: Who’s running? What are the issues?
By Taylor Vance and Geoff Pender | Originally published by Mississippi Today
Key Senate & House Races Explained
Midterm elections in November will determine control of both chambers of Congress. In Mississippi, a U.S. Senate race tops the ticket, which includes contested general elections for all four of the state’s U.S. House districts.
Who’s in the race: U.S. Senate
Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is running for reelection to a second full term. She faces Democratic nominee Scott Colom and Ty Pinkins, who is running as an independent.
Cindy Hyde-Smith (Republican, Incumbent)
Native of Brookhaven, she is a former state agriculture commissioner and previously served as a Democratic state senator. She was appointed to the U.S. Senate by then-Gov. Phil Bryant in 2018, later won a special election, then a full six-year term in 2020. She is the first woman to represent Mississippi in Congress.
Committee roles: Serves on the Senate Agriculture, Appropriations and Energy committees
Scott Colom (Democrat)
Native of Columbus, Colom was elected district attorney for the 16th Circuit serving Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay, and Noxubee counties in 2015. Colom is the first Black DA for his district.
Notable: Nominated by President Joe Biden in 2023 for a northern Mississippi federal judicial seat, but his nomination was blocked by Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
Ty Pinkins (Independent)
Vicksburg-based attorney and military veteran, former White House communications aide and lawyer with the Mississippi Center for Justice. Pinkins ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for U.S. Senate in 2024 against incumbent Roger Wicker and ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 2023.
Focus: Pinkins says partisan politics and big-money influence have caused government to fail Mississippians.
Who’s in the races: U.S. House
1st Congressional District, northern Mississippi
Trent Kelly (Incumbent), Republican
From Saltillo, Kelly is a six-term U.S. representative, a former district attorney in northern Mississippi and a 39-year Mississippi Army National Guard veteran, retiring in 2025 as a major general. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee and is chairman of the Seapower Subcommittee.
Cliff Johnson, Democrat
From rural Lafayette County, Johnson is director of the MacArthur Justice Center and a professor at the University of Mississippi School of Law and is a former assistant U.S. attorney.
Johnny Baucom, Libertarian
From Columbus, Baucom is an Army National Guard veteran, health and safety technician and has managed mechanic shops.
2nd Congressional District, western Mississippi
Bennie Thompson (Incumbent), Democrat
A native of Bolton, Thompson has served in Congress since 1993, and previously served as an alderman, county supervisor and mayor. He is the current ranking member and former chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, served as a co-chair of the January 6 Commission and is dean of the state congressional delegation.
Ron Eller, Republican
From Jackson, Eller is a cardiac physician’s assistant who served 20 years in the Army starting as a combat medic and retiring as a captain. He has previously run for the 2nd District House seat twice.
Bennie Foster, Independent
A Jackson native, Foster is a longtime educator and administrator.
3rd Congressional District, central Mississippi
Michael Guest (Incumbent), Republican
From Rankin County, Guest is serving his third term in Congress and is a former longtime district attorney for Madison and Rankin counties. He is chairman of the House Ethics Committee and serves on the Appropriations and Homeland Security committees.
Michael Chiaradio, Democrat
From Shubuta, Chiaradio is a farmer and entrepreneur. He played college baseball, then in the Empire Professional Baseball League and has launched several small business ventures, including the American Softball Association. He previously worked for a global government contractor that supports Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
Erik Kiehle, Libertarian
From Meridian, Kiehle is a real estate owner, manager and investor, a volunteer firefighter and private pilot who previously worked in software and technology.
4th Congressional District, southern Mississippi
Mike Ezell (Incumbent), Republican
A native of Pascagoula, Ezell is serving his second term in Congress and was formerly sheriff of Jackson County. He serves on the Natural Resources and Transportation committees.
Jeffrey Hulum III, Democrat
A Gulfport native, Hulum has served as state representative for House District 119 since 2022. He is a 22-year U.S. Army veteran who reached the rank of sergeant major.
Carl Boyanton, Independent
Boyanton, of Diamondhead, is founder of Farmer Fresh Produce LLC and has worked as a warehouse laborer.
What matters most to you this November?
Before you cast your ballot this November, we want to know what’s driving your decision. Your answers will directly inform the stories we investigate and the questions we ask candidates.
Key issues for this election
Most pundits and prognosticators have Mississippi’s midterm federal elections firmly in the “noncompetitive” category, expecting incumbents to sail to reelection in November.
But challengers are putting in the shoe leather, traversing the state, bombarding social media and, at least in the state’s U.S. Senate race, raising significant amounts of campaign cash.
Particularly, the state’s Democratic challengers to the majority Republican congressional officeholders here hope polling across the country showing dissatisfaction with the GOP on consumer costs, the Iran war, tariffs and trade wars and other policies will provide a foothold to flip seats even in one of the reddest states in the country. Plus, conventional wisdom is the incumbent party can face voters’ ire in midterm elections.
Referendum on Trump
The key question for the 2026 midterms: Will voters in Mississippi, a state dominated by Republican politics, stay loyal to the GOP, even after President Donald Trump’s approval ratings nationwide have plummeted? Rising costs of goods and a protracted war in Iran could erode Trump’s popularity even in red states.
So far, Mississippi’s incumbent Republican members have allowed little daylight between themselves and Trump, generally praising him and continuing to campaign on alignment with most of his policies.
But the state’s lone Democratic member, Rep. Bennie Thompson, and Democratic challengers for the other open seats this midterm have criticized the Trump administration and campaigned against many of the president’s policies.
Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith has aligned her campaign closely with Trump, who has endorsed her, and she has emphasized her access to and support from the current administration. She has been one of Trump’s staunchest allies in the Senate.
That closeness is also the center of the Democratic case against her. Democratic nominee Scott Colom’s campaign has focused heavily on her vote for Trump’s tax-and-spending package, the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which cut health coverage for many Mississippians and delivered tax breaks weighted toward the wealthy. Colom has tried to characterize Hyde-Smith as a rubber stamp for the White House while forsaking average Mississippians.
Affordability: tariffs, trade wars, inflation and imported beef
The cost of living, or “affordability,” has emerged as a central theme of the midterms, with rising prices, tariffs’ effects on farmers and consumers, gas prices and health insurance and healthcare access are all incampaign issues. After Republicans criticized former President Joe Biden’s handling of inflation, prices have continued to rise under Trump, who pledged to get them under control.
Generally, Mississippi’s incumbent Republicans have supported the Trump administration’s trade wars and tariff policies, or at least held their tongues.
Hyde-Smith, a farmer and former state agriculture commissioner, has at times been in a tough spot with Trump’s trade wars. She has supported Trump’s use of emergency powers to enact tariffs, but has also urged the administration to protect farmers from some tariff hikes, such as on fertilizer, and has tried to downplay the costs to Mississippi’s farmers and ag markets.
President Trump’s recent proposal to import cheap beef to try to drive down consumer costs as midterm elections near has drawn flak from Mississippi cattle producers, and at least muted dissension from Hyde-Smith and Republican Rep. Michael Guest. Hyde-Smith faced criticism from Colom and others when she commented in February when asked about high beef prices that, “You have so many proteins to choose from and all commodities go through peaks and valleys.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson has vocally criticized Trump’s tariffs and trade wars, as have Democratic challengers for the midterms. But Thompson’s Republican challenger, Ron Eller, has said more tariffs are warranted because they will spur more domestic manufacturing.
Iran War
The conflict between the U.S. and Iran, which followed strikes ordered by Trump earlier this year, has become an issue nationally and in Mississippi. Congress has been divided over the president’s use of military force without prior congressional authorization, and a War Powers Resolution aimed at curbing that authority passed the Senate with bipartisan support, though it fell short of a veto-proof majority.
Hyde-Smith and Mississippi’s three U.S. representatives voted against the resolution, consistent with their broader support for the administration’s national security approach.
The war has also become entangled with the affordability debate, as critics have linked the chokehold in the Strait of Hormuz with higher gas and grocery prices and questioned its cost and open-ended objectives.
Lack of national party support, fundraising
The two main national political parties have not invested heavily in Mississippi’s midterm races, which is not unusual, given the state has not been considered very competitive for non-incumbents in general elections for many cycles.
Some candidates have lamented this, saying the GOP has become too complacent in its hold on all but one congressional office, and the Democratic Party has written the state off as a lost cause.
But for candidates to be successful, they have to raise enough money to buy ads to build name ID. They also need the funds to develop a strong campaign infrastructure leading up to the election. Incumbents tend to have the edge in fundraising, as is the case with this election, though some of the challengers have raised enough money to be competitive.
Colom has outraised Hyde-Smith for two fundraising quarters this election season. Cliff Johnson, the Democratic nominee for the 1st Congressional District, has for at least a couple of quarters bested incumbent Republican Trent Kelly in fundraising. But both incumbent Republicans have far more campaign cash in their coffers than their challengers.
A recent report showed Hyde-Smith with $2.54 million cash on hand, and Colom with $847,000.
But things could change in short order in Mississippi races, should national parties or big-money interests decide to weigh in. Mississippi’s media market is relatively cheap, so campaign donations or independent expenditures can go a long way in campaign advertising as races enter the final stretch.
When, Where & How to Vote
Mississippi’s federal midterm Election Day is Nov. 3. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. All Mississippi voters are required to present a photo ID. If you do not present an acceptable form of photo ID, you are entitled to cast an affidavit ballot, but must then present an ID in the local circuit clerk’s office within five business days. For voter ID information or help obtaining valid identification, call 1-800-829-6786.
Register to vote. Mississippians can register to vote in the Nov. 3 general election by mail, at their local county circuit clerk’s offices or at Department of Public Safety offices through Oct. 5. All mail-in applications must be postmarked on or before 30 days prior to Election Day. Mail in applications are available here, or from your circuit clerk. For your circuit clerk’s address and contact information, go to the Secretary of State’s County Election Information page here.
Absentee voting begins Sept. 19. Mississippi does not have standard early voting like many other states do, but the state allows for absentee voting in person and by mail under certain circumstances, including for students attending schools away from their homes, people who will be away from their residence due to work or “any qualified elector who is required to be away from his or her residence within the county on election day for any reason.” Those who are 65 or older also can vote absentee by mail or in person. For more information on how to vote absentee in person or by mail, go to this secretary of state’s web page.
Find your polling location. To find your polling location, view sample ballots and see who your current officeholders are, go the the secretary of state’s My Election Day page.
This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Source: Original Article
