U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican from Mississippi, reaffirmed Thursday that she will be seeking reelection during the 2026 midterms.
Hyde-Smith, who first said last March she was planning to seek office for a second full term, was joined by federal Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins as the two visited the veterinarian school at Mississippi State University in Starkville before traveling to Jackson for meetings with various farm organizations and a ribbon-cutting for a refurbished U.S. Department of Agriculture office. During the trip, she told SuperTalk Mississippi News that she has made her reelection bid official.
“We will be kicking off our campaign, and we’re ready to get at it,” Hyde-Smith said.
Hyde-Smith served as Mississippi’s agriculture commissioner for just over six years before being appointed to the Senate in April 2018 after the passing of Republican Sen. Thad Cochran. She won the remainder of the term later that year during a special election and then a full term in 2020.
Hyde-Smith has used her seven years in office to prove herself as one of the more conservative lawmakers in Washington with staunch pro-life and pro-gun views. She’s also been an advocate for farmers through her position on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Nutrition, plus publicly working to make the Yazoo Backwater Pump Project happen to prevent further flooding in the state’s Delta region.
During the 2020 cycle, in which Hyde-Smith defeated former Bill Clinton cabinet member Mike Espy in the general election, a public endorsement from President Donald Trump helped lift her to victory in a race that was decided by 10 points. With Rollins joining Hyde-Smith for Thursday’s trip, further White House support during the upcoming midterms is imminent.
“I think she is a game changer in Washington,” Rollins said. ” I think it would be a tremendous loss not just to Mississippi, but to the entire ‘America First’ movement if she isn’t resoundingly returned, as she should be and as she deserves to be, to Washington, D.C.”
Hyde-Smith goes into 2026 as the frontrunner, being an incumbent with a lot of name recognition, but it may not be an easy election. Fellow Republican Andrew Scott Smith announced earlier in the day that he will be challenging Hyde-Smith in the primary race, while Democrat-turned-independent Ty Pinkins has been actively campaigning for months now. Smith missed on trying to take Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson’s seat in 2024, and Pinkins previously ran unsuccessful races for Mississippi secretary of state and U.S. Senate against Hyde-Smith’s chamber counterpart, Sen. Roger Wicker.
As for the Democratic side, state and national party members have not publicly backed any candidates, but Mississippi House Minority Leader Robert Johnson hinted in July that Columbus-based District Attorney Scott Colom is being urged to run. Colom was nominated in 2022 to serve as a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi before his promotion was squashed when Hyde-Smith blocked a confirmation vote, citing concerns over Colom’s political beliefs and campaign donations from left-leaning billionaire George Soros.
“We have a viable candidate, one who has extensive experience and has done great public service work. So, we’re looking to put him out there,” Johnson said. “No formal announcement has been made, but he is a prosecutor and district attorney with a vast amount of experience.”
Primary races for Hyde-Smith’s seat and all four of the state’s U.S. House seats will be held on March 10 with April 7 reserved for potential runoffs. The general election is slated for Nov. 3, 2026. Wicker will not be on the ballot as Senate seats are staggered. He won a third full term in 2024, defeating Pinkins handily.
