(Photo from Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith on Facebook)
- Voters in the Magnolia State have not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1982. National Democrat strategists want to change that in the 2026 midterms.
Thirty-five seats are up for grabs in the U.S. Senate during the 2026 midterm elections, with 23 of those held by Republicans. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to retake the majority in the chamber.
Mississippi’s U.S. Senate seat currently held by Cindy Hyde-Smith is one of the GOP-held seats. Senator Hyde-Smith, who is completing her first full term, will be seeking re-election next year. She has already received the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
“Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith is 100% MAGA, and doing a fantastic job representing the Incredible People of Mississippi!” Trump wrote on Truth Social in March. “An Original Member of my Mississippi Leadership Team, Cindy has been with us from the very beginning. In the Senate, Cindy is fighting hard to Secure our Border, Grow the Economy, Champion our Amazing Farmers and American Agriculture, Support our Brave Military/Veterans, Promote Energy DOMINANCE, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment.”
Hyde-Smith, the first female to be elected to represent Mississippi at the federal level, shows just over $700,000 cash on hand in her campaign account as of the March 31 FEC filing. The 2020 campaign cycle saw the Hyde-Smith campaign raise over $3 million.
According to 270toWin, a nonpartisan poll aggregator, the Mississippi seat is considered to be safe for Republicans. In fact, voters in the Magnolia State have not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1982 and have supported Republican presidential candidates in every election since Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign.
However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Party strategists are reportedly “thinking outside the box” and “looking for political lottery tickets” in Republican strongholds like Mississippi in the 2026 cycle, according to a recent article in the New York Times.
The New York Times reported that Schumer told associates that he sees an intriguing opportunity in Mississippi, “which has the largest percentage of Black residents of any state.”
“One possible candidate there is Scott Colom, a district attorney who was appointed by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to a federal judgeship — only to be blocked by Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, whom Mr. Colom would be running against in 2026,” the New York Times reported. “The state is also appealing for Democrats because it is small and relatively cheap to compete in.”
As of this reporting, no federal campaign statement of organization is showing as being filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by Colom. However, Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Cheikh Taylor told the Clarion-Ledger that the Lowndes County DA does intend to run for the U.S. Senate.
As previously reported by Magnolia Tribune, both Mississippi Republican Senators initially did not return a “blue slip” on Colom following his nomination by Biden to serve on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.
A “blue slip” is basically a sign-off Senators have on district court nominees in their home states.
Wicker did ultimately give his approval while Hyde-Smith maintained her opposition to Colom’s nomination.
“As someone with a strong interest in protecting the rights of girls and women, I am concerned about Scott Colom’s opposition to legislation to protect female athletes,” Hyde-Smith stated in April 2023. “The significant support his [DA] campaign received from George Soros also weighs heavily against his nomination in my view. I simply cannot support his nomination to serve on the federal bench in Mississippi for a lifetime.”
Magnolia Tribune previously reported that Soros was the sole funder of the “Mississippi Safety & Justice PAC,” donating nearly $1 million to support Colom’s bid for DA in the 16th Judicial District as well as Hinds County DA Robert Shuler Smith’s re-election bid. Colom received over $700,000 in “independent expenditures” from the PAC.
Democrats already have one candidate for sure in the race against Hyde-Smith – Ty Pinkins.
Pinkins began running for the U.S. Senate in 2022 but suspended his campaign in 2023 to become the state Democratic Party’s replacement candidate for Secretary of State. He lost that statewide race by nearly 20 points – 59.5 percent to 40.5 percent – to incumbent Republican Secretary Michael Watson.
Pinkins then stepped back into campaigning for the U.S. Senate in 2024, running unopposed in the Democratic Party Primary. Despite two years of campaigning and raising just over $1 million, Senator Wicker defeated Pinkins in the General Election by nearly 25 points – 62.8 percent to 37.2 percent.
Pinkins then announced another run for the U.S. Senate in January, this time against Hyde-Smith in the 2026 midterms. He currently shows $4,000 cash on hand in his campaign account as of the March 31 filing.
Hyde-Smith is also being challenged within the Republican Party. FEC filings show Dr. Sarah Adlakha, a political newcomer and resident of Ocean Springs, has filed to run as a Republican in the 2026 midterms.
Adlakha, who moved to Mississippi 13 years ago, has a campaign website and social media up and running, stating that she plans to bring “bold, compassionate leadership to the U.S. Senate.” Among her policy statements, Adlakha advocates for reducing government waste and cutting unnecessary spending. She says the government should focus on pro-business policies, reducing taxes, and eliminating unnecessary regulations. She also believes Medicaid should be converted into block grants to give Mississippi more control over how it allocates funds.
Adlakha paused her psychiatric practice to help her husband establish his cardiology clinic and has run the business side of the practice for 11 years. The two have been involved in developing a $55 million multi-purpose real estate project in Jackson County that has faced pushback from the Board of Supervisors and Singing River Health System over certificate of need related to the medical component in the development.
The Hinds County Chancery Court recently upheld the approval of the development, known as Legacy Park, despite the CON objections from Singing River.
Since Adlakha filed her campaign organization paperwork with the FEC in March, no finance reporting is currently showing.
Frank Corder
