Several new candidates have entered Mississippi’s 2026 U.S. Senate race in recent weeks.

The general election is more than 13 months away, but the deadline to file paperwork to run for federal offices is Dec. 26, according to the secretary of state’s office. 

Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith is running for a second full term in office. She is favored to defend her seat from Democrats, who haven’t elected a U.S. senator in Mississippi since John Stennis in 1982. 

Facing a Senate map that many analysts say favors Republicans, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said he’s looking for ways to break the GOP’s ironclad grip on Mississippi in 2026. 

Democrats have long believed the U.S. Senate was designed to over-represent small states, leading to a structural advantage for Republicans. That and President Donald Trump’s return to power have sparked renewed discussion in Democratic politics about how the party can become competitive in Republican-led states. 

This could prompt the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the National Republican Senate Committee to spend millions on the race in the Magnolia State. At the end of June, Hyde-Smith’s campaign committee had just over $1.4 million in cash on hand. 

Hyde-Smith has also attracted two Republican primary challengers, neither of whom has held elected office. 

Party primaries are March 10, and the general election is Nov. 3, 2026. Here is an updated look at the field and the candidates’ backgrounds. 

Republican Primary

Cindy Hyde-Smith  — The Brookhaven native is the first woman elected to represent Mississippi in Congress. She served in the Mississippi Senate and as state agriculture commissioner before moving to the statewide post. In early 2018, then-Gov. Phil Bryant appointed her to the U.S. Senate to replace Republican Thad Cochran, who opted to retire. She won a special election later in 2018 to serve the remaining two years on the term Cochran started, and she won a full, six-year term in 2020. 

Hyde-Smith is “100% MAGA”, according to Trump, who has already endorsed her. She launched her reelection campaign in late August by highlighting her advocacy for Mississippi farmers, her fight to restrict abortion rights and her close ties to the White House

“I can send a text to President Trump, and he responds,” Hyde-Smith said at her campaign launch. 

In 2018 and 2020, Hyde-Smith defeated Democrat Mike Espy, an attorney and former congressman who served as U.S. secretary of agriculture during President Bill Clinton’s administration. 

Sarah Adlakha  — A physician from Ocean Springs, Adlakha said in her campaign announcement that she was running to “stand with President Trump to secure our border, stop reckless spending, and fight for Mississippi families.” Adlakha also told Mississippi Today she would work across the aisle to improve access to health care in Mississippi. 

“I feel like not enough is being done from our representatives. I think we need people who are more effective and ready to actually go in there and work and legislate,” Adlakha said. “It’s not so much that I disagree with (Hyde-Smith’s) policies. I just feel like she could be doing so much more in the Senate to help our state.” 

In one of her first public events last week, Adlakha called a press conference to urge Trump to send National Guard troops to Jackson, as he did in Washington and Memphis. Standing before a podium emblazoned with a “MAKE JACKSON SAFE AGAIN” sign, Adlakha said such a move would combat violent crime. 

Andrew Scott Smith  —  The Florence resident owns a pork rinds business and calls himself the “Pigskin Politician.” He announced his bid for the U.S. Senate just hours before Hyde-Smith’s campaign launch event. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson in 2024.

Smith said he was challenging Hyde-Smith because she has become disconnected from her constituents. Smith said he considers himself a monopoly-busting conservative in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt, and he hopes to address consolidation in the American economy through index funds. He also wants to focus on the “fiscal future” of the country by phasing out Social Security and federalizing the national debt.

Democratic Primary

Scott Colom  — A native of Columbus, Colom is the elected district attorney of the 16th Circuit Court District in north Mississippi. He is the first Black person elected as the top prosecutor for the district. Then-President Joe Biden in 2023 nominated Colom to a vacant federal judicial seat in northern Mississippi, but Hyde-Smith thwarted the nomination. 

In an interview with Mississippi Today, Colom said Hyde-Smith’s voting record shows she has prioritized “D.C. politics” instead of hard-working Mississippians, including her vote for Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that slashed social safety net programs and provided tax cuts for the wealthy. 

If elected, Colom said he would push for legislation that raises the nation’s minimum wage and exempts law enforcement officers and public school teachers from paying federal income taxes. 

Mississippi Today reached out to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the National Republican Senate Committee for comment on the race. 

Colom is “handpicked by Chuck Schumer and George Soros to push Democrats’ radical agenda on Mississippians,” said NRSC regional press secretary Samantha Cantrell.

The Democratic committee did not respond to a request for comment.  

Priscilla Williams-Till  — The civil rights activist and relative of Emmett Till said on her campaign website that she’s running to enact laws that “will address historical and ongoing inequalities, while representing marginalized communities that work towards an equitable society.”  

“Even the election of former President Barack Obama, immigration controversy, and economic situation, it has become nearly impossible to keep track of hate organizations and the shocking rise in brutal attacks directed against individuals because they are Black, Latino, Asian, Disabled, Gay, or Women,” said Williams-Till, who grew up in Jackson.

Independent 

Ty Pinkins  — The unsuccessful Democratic candidate for secretary of state in 2023 and U.S. senator in 2024 has declared he’s also running for the Senate again in 2026 as an independent. Pinkins will be on the general election ballot without going through a primary.

Pinkins, a lawyer who lives in Vicksburg, announced his departure from the Democratic Party in June and attributed a lack of support from the state Democratic Party as part of the reason for his poor performance in past elections. Pinkins wrote that certain party leaders were “gatekeepers” who attempted to block him from advancing in politics.