Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith and Sarah Adlakha (left to right) - (Photos from candidates' Facebook pages)
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- The incumbent Republican U.S. Senator is seeing significant donations roll in both from Mississippi and nationally. See where the MSGOP candidates stand.
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican, leads the pack in terms of cash on hand this midterm election cycle, reporting $2.34 million in last week’s required Federal Election Commission filing.
Her closest competition so far is Democrat candidate Scott Colom, who raised roughly $570,000 and reported $576,000 cash on hand as of the October filing deadline.
READ MORE: Colom attends ‘No Kings’ protest, reports campaign donations from Soros, Abrams
Hyde-Smith, whose re-election bid has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, raised $1.06 million in the third quarter of 2025, far outpacing her competition on both sides of the aisle.
She will be challenged by at least two GOP candidates in the March Republican Primary. Only one opponent’s campaign finance report is currently showing as filed with the FEC, that being Sarah Adlakha, who reported $122,000 cash on hand after previously reporting a loan to her campaign of over $200,000.
Andrew Smith, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Mississippi’s 2nd District two years ago, is the other announced GOP candidate for U.S. Senate.
The qualifying period for those running for a seat in the U.S. House or U.S. Senate in Mississippi opens December 1 and ends December 26.
Party primary elections will be held March 10, 2026, and the General Election is slated for November 3, 2026.
Sources of the Republican candidates’ campaign funds
Hyde-Smith
According to Senator Hyde-Smith’s third quarter filing, her campaign’s largest out-of-state donors included $163,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and $62,000 from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, along with a slew of other Washington D.C.-based political action committees that support farmers, business, and tech special interests.
Click here to see who contributed to Hyde-Smith’s campaign as of 3rd Quarter 2025
In addition, roughly $143,000, or 1.3 percent of reporting donations this period, came to Hyde-Smith by way of WinRed, the Republican alternative to the Democrats’ ActBlue network, a national hub for donations that support party candidates without listing specific names on a candidate’s campaign finance report.
Prominent Mississippians who donated to Hyde-Smith include:
- Former Governor Haley Barbour and wife, Marsha – $4,000
- Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann – $3,500
- Charles Pickering – $1,000
- Businessman and potential gubernatorial candidate Thomas Duff – $3,500
- Entergy CEO Haley Fisackerly – $2,500
- Jones CEO Jonathan Jones – $5,000
- SuperTalk’s Gerard Gibert – $500
- Biloxi Mayor Fofo Gilich – $1,000
Nearly half of her total number of listed donations came from Mississippi supporters.
Adlakha
As for Adlakha’s third quarter filing, her campaign raised just under $57,000 that period after a second quarter filing that showed $126 raised coupled with a $201,000 loan to her campaign.
Click here to see who contributed to Adlakha’s campaign as of 3rd Quarter 2025
The largest donors to Adlakha were Anne, Ashley, JJ and Phil Festoso, for a combined total of $21,000, or 37 percent of the candidate’s total funds raised this period. Anne and Phil share an address in Montgomery, Alabama, while Ashley and JJ report the same address in Centennial Colorado.
Adlakha did receive donations of roughly $6,000 from WinRed, the Republican donations hub.
Other large donors of note include:
- Gautier Physician Daniel Wittersheim – $3,500
- Ocean Springs Contractor Cam Roberds – $3,500
- Ocean Springs Physician Darrell Finlay – $2,500
- Gulfport Ultrasound Technician Chris Arnoult – $3,500
A majority of Adlakha’s total number of individual donors were listed as being from Mississippi.
