Mississippi’s midterm Primary Elections are here. What to expect Tuesday

• Republicans and Democrats head to the polls Tuesday to choose their party’s nominee ahead of the November General Election. See who is on the ballot for the midterm Primary Elections.

Polls open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, March 10 across Mississippi as voters choose their nominees in the Republican and Democratic Midterm Primary Elections for U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

At the top of ballot will be the race for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Cindy Hyde-Smith (R). She is being challenged in the Republican Primary by newcomer Sarah Adlakha.

On the Democratic side, District Attorney Scott Colum tops the ticket as he along with Albert Littell and Priscilla Till, cousin of Emmett Till, vie to be the Democrats’ nominee for U.S. Senate.

Fourth District Congressman Mike Ezell (R) is the only incumbent Republican Congressman of the three in Mississippi with a Primary Election challenge. Ezell will face Sawyer Walters, a former staffer for Congressman Steven Palazzo, who Ezell unseated in 2022.

Second District Congressman Bennie Thompson (D) looks to ward off an enthusiastic challenge in the Democratic Primary from Evan Turnage, a former staffer of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) of New York as well as U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) of Massachusetts. Newcomer Pertis Williams is also on the Democratic ballot for this seat.

On the Ballot

Turnout is Key

With incumbent 1st District Congressmen Trent Kelly (R) and 3rd District Congressman Michael Guest (R) running unopposed in the Republican Primary, as is Michael Chiaradio in the 3rd District’s Democratic Primary, voter turnout in these districts could be key for those vying for the U.S. Senate at the top of the ticket, particularly on the Republican side.

The last midterm election in the Magnolia State that featured a race for the U.S. Senate was in June 2018, when senior Senator Roger Wicker (R) was up for re-election. Voter turnout for both parties was low that year, with around 157,000 casting a ballot in the Republican Primary and roughly 88,000 voting in the Democratic Primary.

By comparison, the 2024 presidential election primary in Mississippi, which also featured a U.S. Senate race with Wicker along with U.S. House races, drew over 90,000 more voters. The state’s 2022 presidential primary election where Senator Hyde-Smith was on the ballot with the four U.S. House seats, drew in nearly a quarter million more votes.

What to Expect

U.S. Senate

Incumbent Senator Hyde-Smith (R) and District Attorney Scott Colom (D) are the odds-on favorites to win their respective primaries. Both enjoy greater name ID and have far outraised their primary opponents, with Hyde-Smith sitting on $2.25 million and Colom boasting $560,000 in their pre-primary campaign finance filings for the Federal Election Commission.

Hyde-Smith served in the Mississippi Senate for three terms before she ran for Agriculture Commissioner, becoming the first female to hold the office in state history. Hyde-Smith went on to win re-election in 2015, and three years later was appointed by former Governor Phil Bryant (R) to the U.S. Senate, again making state history as the first female to hold a federal office from Mississippi. Hyde-Smith won the 2018 special election to fill the unexpired U.S. Senate term of Thad Cochran, defeating former Agricultural Secretary Espy, a Democrat, in a runoff election by nearly 8 points. Hyde-Smith then won a full six-year term in 2020, again defeating Espy by 10 points.

President Donald Trump (R) has endorsed Hyde-Smith for her second full term in the U.S. Senate, as have nearly every elected state and legislative officeholder in Mississippi.

Adlakha, Hyde-Smith’s challenger, has leaned into her being a political newcomer, questioning the incumbent’s campaign spending and using similar messaging as Colom to nip at Hyde-Smith’s heels.

Adlakha is a native of Chicago, Illinois who moved to Mississippi over a decade ago. She paused her psychiatric practice to help her husband establish a cardiology clinic and has run the business side of the practice for 11 years. The couple have been involved in developing a multi-million-dollar multi-purpose real estate project in Jackson County that has faced pushback from the Board of Supervisors and Singing River Health System over a certificate of need related to the medical component in the development. That CON was recently upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court. Local politics surrounding the development led Adlakha to back the incumbent Independent Gautier Mayor over a Republican challenger, also a former Mayor, in last year’s municipal elections.

Adlakha has funneled nearly $500,000 of her own money into the race, meaning she has only raised roughly $70,000 and leaving her with $9,700 cash on hand in the pre-primary report.

Colom’s entry in the race has been years in the making after Hyde-Smith did not return a “blue slip” for Colom in 2023 when President Joe Biden (D) nominated him for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. The “blue slip” process is a sign-off Senators have on district court nominees in their home states. Return the slip and the process moves forward. Choose not to return it and it is essentially a veto of the nominee by the Senator. Hyde-Smith said her opposition to Colom’s federal judicial appointment was rooted in her want to protect women’s sports and oppose the furtherance of left-leaning causes supported by Democrat financier George Soros.

Soros was the sole funder of the “Mississippi Safety & Justice PAC” in 2019, donating nearly $1 million to support Colom’s bid for District Attorney in the 16th Judicial District as well as Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith’s re-election campaign. Colom received over $700,000 in “independent expenditures” from the PAC. Since launching his Senate campaign, Colom has again enjoyed the benefits of being connected to Soros, with his son hosting a fundraiser for the candidate in New York.

Like Adlakha, Colom’s opponents in the Democratic primary have not been able to muster much in way of campaign donations apart from themselves, with Littell not reporting any funds raised and Till showing $8,500, roughly half of which came from herself.

Littell, a Marine Corps veteran is also a Chicago native, like Adlakha, while Till has a long history in Mississippi, being the cousin of Emmett Till, the 15-year-old whose murder helped spark the civil rights movement.

Odds favor Hyde-Smith and Colom winning their respective party Primary Election. They will then advance and face Democrat-turned-Independent Ty Pinkins in a three-person race for Mississippi’s U.S. Senate seat in November’s General Election.

Outlook: Leans Republican

1st Congressional District

Incumbent Congressman Kelly, a former District Attorney who is unopposed in the Republican Primary Election, is seeking his sixth term in the U.S. House. He has represented the North Mississippi area since winning a special election in 2015 after the death of former Congressman Alan Nunnelee (R).

Kelly’s pre-primary campaign finance report shows him with $738,000 cash on hand. He has been endorsed by President Trump.

A Republican has held this House seat since January 1995 except for less than 3 years when Democrat Travis Childers was elected in a special election after Republican Roger Wicker resigned. Wicker stepped down prior to being sworn in as one of the state’s two U.S. Senators, a position he holds to this day.

Kelly will face either Ole Miss law school professor Cliff Johnson or former State Representative turned Holly Springs mayor Kelvin Buck in the November General Election.

Johnson and Buck are vying to be the Democratic nominee. Johnson worked for five years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney during the Clinton administration. He is now the Director of the MacArthur Justice Center and a member of the faculty at the University of Mississippi School of Law. Buck lost his bid for a third term as mayor in the Democratic Primary in 2021.

Johnson reports $65,000 cash on hand ahead of the primary while Buck shows $11,000.

Johnson appears to have the leg up on the Democrat side, but whichever Democrat does win, he will join Kelly on the November General Election ballot along with Libertarian candidate Johnny Baucom.

Outlook: Leans Republican

2nd Congressional District

Incumbent Congressman Thompson, a former mayor and county supervisor, has held this House seat since April 1993, winning a special election following the resignation of Mike Espy who became U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under former President Bill Clinton. His $1.5 million campaign war chest has led many to view him as nearly untouchable in the 2nd District. Thompson has easily won re-election after re-election over the last 30 years, earning him key leadership roles in the House Democratic Caucus as well as chairmanships when Democrats have controlled the chamber.

Thompson is being challenged in the Democratic Primary Election by newcomers Evan Turnage and Pertis Williams. Turnage is a former Chief Counsel for U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) while Williams is a logistics professional.

Turnage has been able to raise over $200,000 and shows nearly $40,000 cash on hand in his pre-primary FEC report. Williams shows no report on file with the FEC.

On the Republican side, Oilman Kevin Wilson, also an Adams County Supervisor, is running to be his party’s nominee against Ron Eller, a medical professional who was the GOP nominee two years ago. Eller lost to Thompson in 2024 by a vote of 62% to 38%.

In their pre-primary campaign finance reports, Wilson shows loans to his campaign of $150,000, leaving him with $166,000 cash on hand compared to Eller who reports $37,000 heading into the primary election.

Other than a few years post-Civil War during the Reconstruction era and four years in the early 1980s, voters in the 2nd Congressional District have elected a Democrat to this seat.

The Democrat and Republican party nominees, likely Thompson and Wilson, will face off against each other and Democrat-turned-Independent Bennie Foster in the November General Election.

Outlook: Leans Democrat

3rd Congressional District

Incumbent Congressman Guest, a former District Attorney, has served in the 3rd District seat since winning his first term in 2018. Guest, unopposed in the Republican Primary Election, has consistently sought to rise in the GOP ranks during his four terms. He is currently the chairman of the U.S. House Ethics Committee.

Guest, whose re-election bid has been endorsed by President Trump, reports $816,000 cash on hand in his pre-primary FEC filing.

The Democrat in the race, also unopposed in the Primary Election, is Michael Chiaradio. He is a former independent professional baseball league player turned regenerative farmer. He has lived in Mississippi since early 2023. He shows just over $10,000 cash on hand.

A Republican has held the 3rd District seat since 1997. The last Democrat to hold the House seat was Sonny Montgomery, who was in office for 24 years.

Guest and Chiaradio will meet in the November General Election along with Libertarian Erik Kiehle.

Outlook: Leans Republican

4th Congressional District

Incumbent Congressman Ezell, a former Sheriff, won his first term to Congress in 2022, defeating then-incumbent 4th District Congressman Steven Palazzo in a GOP Primary runoff election. In 2024, Ezell bested two Republican challengers, one of which endorsed him in the previous election, to go on to win his first re-election bid over a Democrat newcomer candidate.

Ezell reports $108,000 cash on hand in his pre-primary FEC filing.

Ezell, who is endorsed by President Trump, is being challenged by former Palazzo staffer Sawyer Walters. Walters is a development officer with the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation and has also served in the Mississippi National Guard.

Walters does not show a pre-primary report filed with the FEC. His end of year reported $23,000 cash on hand.

On the Democrat side, State Rep. Jeffery Hulum, D. Ryan Grover and Paul James Blackman will vie for the party’s nomination. None of three have reports available with the FEC.

Hulum retired from the United States Army and runs a non-profit while serving in the Legislature. Grover is a business consultant who previously ran for Lt. Governor. Blackman is a Navy veteran who is a newcomer to the Coast political scene. 

During redistricting in the early 2000s, Mississippi lost a congressional seat which meant the then-5th District was split and the current four districts were established. Much of the 5th District became what is now the 4th District. Republicans hold the advantage here having held the seat since 2011 when former Congressman Palazzo ousted longtime Democrat Gene Taylor. Taylor was the Congressman for the 4th District from the redistricting through January 2011.

Odds are that Ezell and Hulum will move on to the November General Election where they will face perennial candidate former Republican-turned-Independent Carl Boyanton.

Outlook: Leans Republican

Election Day Reminders

Voters have until 7 p.m. to cast their ballot. Any voter in line at 7:00 p.m. is legally entitled to vote.

The Mississippi Secretary of States voters that they are required to show photo identification at the polls. A voter without an acceptable form of photo identification is entitled to cast an affidavit ballot. If an affidavit ballot is cast, that voter must present an acceptable form of photo ID to their Circuit Clerk’s Office by March 17.

All mail-in absentee ballots must be postmarked by March 10 and received by Circuit Clerks’ Offices by March 17.

Voters are also reminded that it is unlawful to campaign for any candidate within 150 feet of any entrance to a polling place, unless on private property. Loitering at the polling place is not allowed and voters are prohibited from taking pictures of their marked ballot.