After the March 10 primaries, Mississippi now enters the home stretch of the 2026 mid-term elections, amid renewed fighting in the Middle East, new global and domestic economic challenges influenced by that conflict, and American partisan differences that have not been deeper or more pronounced since the late 1960s.
But one question was emphatically answered in the primaries: Mississippi’s incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith easily withstood a nearly “coordinated” attack from both GOP primary challenger and Gulf Coast psychiatrist Sarah Adlakha and Democratic nominee Scott Colom – the current 16th Judicial District Attorney from Columbus – in winning her primary bid with over 80% of the vote.
The word “coordinated” is in quotes because that’s a specific legal term defined by the Federal Election Commission and federal elections law. Here’s the FEC definition: “When a committee, group, or individual pays for a communication that is coordinated with a campaign or a candidate, the communication is either an in-kind contribution or, in some limited cases, a coordinated party expenditure by a party committee.
“Coordinated means made in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of a candidate, a candidate’s authorized committee, or their agents, or a political party committee or its agents.”
So, while the combined attack narratives from Adlakha and Colom don’t fit the formal or legal FEC definition of “coordination,” it’s impossible to ignore the similarities in both the paid advertising and social media attacks on Sen. Hyde-Smith from the pair of challengers.
Both campaigns used identical social media graphics attacking Hyde-Smith. The Mississippi conservative online news site Magnolia Tribune raised questions of Adlakha’s GOP loyalties, citing her lack of prior Republican political involvement, prior support for non-GOP candidates, social media praise of Kamala Harris, and the identical “synchronized messaging” with Colom in connection with using the same social media graphics at the same time.
After securing the GOP nomination Tuesday, Hyde-Smith – with seats on both the powerful Senate Appropriations and Agriculture committees – will face Colom and independent candidates Ty Pinkins in the November General Election.
Republicans have dominated Mississippi’s congressional politics at the federal level for over a decade. The GOP has held both of the state’s U.S. Senate seats and three of the state’s four U.S. House seats with relative ease.
Indeed, like Hyde-Smith, Mississippi’s congressional incumbents all retained their party nominations heading into November and are all favorites to win reelection.
Hyde-Smith seeks reelection for a second full term. The first-term senator from Brookhaven, appointed to fill the seat vacated by Thad Cochran in 2018 and winning a subsequent special election, has, in many ways, been the model of a traditional Mississippi Republican. Her fierce loyalty to former President Donald Trump and her position on hot-button conservative issues have earned her favor with Mississippi’s conservative electorate.
Her campaign is well-funded, well-connected, and she is a recognized name in both Washington and this state’s political circles. Hyde-Smith is the clear favorite in this race. But expect Colom to continue to wage a bare-knuckle campaign against Hyde-Smith as part of an orchestrated Democratic Party effort to break the GOP’s narrow control of Congress in the mid-term elections.
From Colom and Adlakha, the united attack theme questioned Hyde-Smith’s effectiveness in Washington, her allegiance to Mississippi, raised vague corruption issues, and questioned her attention to kitchen-table issues. Republican voters rejected that line of attack by 80%.
The fact that Hyde-Smith blocked Colom’s prior nomination by former President Biden to a federal judgeship should not be discounted as this race develops. There’s no love lost between the nominees, which may produce a slugfest of a campaign between now and November.
As one who watched Sen. Hyde-Smith's 27-year journey from the Mississippi State Senate to her election as Mississippi’s agriculture commissioner to the U.S. Senate, a common theme has been that, for some reason, her opponents underestimate her. So far, they have done so to their detriment.
Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.
29 comments:
Hide-Smith is an embarrassment to the state.
" Her fierce loyalty to former President Donald Trump" I believe Donald J.Trump is the CURRENT President of the United State, Sid.
Colom is a joke. I think Babs loaned him her marbles.
Looks like the MS Donkeycrats have run out of yellow dog
white boys to run.
most people did not know there was an election - expertly played MSGOP lull everyone to sleep, keep it low key and blow the dog whistle at the nursing home when the polls open
Neocon warmonger Hyde-Smith's over 80 percent win in the GOP primary makes me depressed about Mississippi's politics. The $40 trillion national debt is the biggest problem we face, and she has shown no concern or proposals to deal with this nightmare. Weimar America is just around the bend.
Hyde-Smith, who is generally a 0, has been a lot more effective as of late than Roger Wicker, who has not brought anything to MS from the gov't in quite some time. Here we have a president hell-bent on building up the military, and Wicker can't land any additional defense manufacturing/contracting anywhere in the state? He is the chair of the Armed Forces correct? Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, who are both a 0 themselves, are at least landing things just by asking Trump.
Yeah, well two things can be true at the same time.
Biden and Colom
@9:17am Who cares. I mean really who cares? You think that number will ever go down? Forget it. Might as well try our best to land some of the spending on MS's roads/infrastructure. Our worthless senators can't even milk this cash cow. We finally got the "pumps" for the Yazoo backwater project funded this year. Why not get a few hundred million for Jackson's roads?
The Republican "talent pool" in this state is the lowest it's been in years .
I wonder if any of Cindy’s children or grandchildren will be sent to the meat grinder on Kharg Island or take part in the amphibious assault landing on Bandar Abbas when the time comes?
She nor Bennie Thompson reflects my interests. My interests are not aligned with Mississippi and as I look back, they never have. The land is beautiful but there is absolutely nothing to offer.
@10:12am After all, it is all about you and your interests!
And yet here you are
Can I buy you a bus ticket to Canada
The Democrat "talent pool" in MS doesn't have a deep end.
There is a ton of truth in this post. I would like to have Mr. Tuberville serving our state.
Hyde Smith was a democrat, she changed to get the Ag commissioner job.
A hyphenated surname spells trouble in the long run. She was appointed by Phil, and would not have been elected in an open race.
no end to corruption unfortunately
9:18 a.m. says that as chairman of the armed services committee Senator Roger Wicker has not brought anything to the state. I respectfully disagree. Senator Wicker has faithfully secured funding for the operation and growth of ship building at Ingalls and other facilities in South MS, as well as Keesler Airforce Base, the Naval Seabee base, Camp Shelby, the Naval Air Station in Meridian, the Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, and various companies that provide support for these entities. He was also supportive of the funding and restoration efforts for South MS following Hurricane Katrina. He has been faithful in his recommendations to the federal courts only qualified individuals who follow a conservative interpretation of the constitution and the laws that derive therefrom. And let’s not forget his support for the AWS project in Madison County, which has the potential of bringing billions of dollars to the state in construction and other jobs. Also, his support for the SAVE Act will eventually purge the voter rolls of illegals and irresponsible individuals who should not be voting in the first place. So, please tell us what are the facts that you rely upon to support your opinion?
1:10 very true. She was a fine Commissioner of Ag and should have stayed there. Her 100% MAGA ads sicken me.
March 18, 2026 at 9:18 AM "Wicker can't land any additional defense manufacturing/contracting anywhere in the state" - not accurate. Mississippi provides components for missile production.
9:17, the national debt is a fictional number aimed at scaring the public during election season. If this was a real issue both parties would do something about it. Neither do.
Bullshit. All of that was put in place by Lott, Cochran and Stennis long before Wicker saw the gleam in Barbour's eye.
The words 'withstood' and 'easy' are polar opposites. If it was an easy battle, which it was, how did she manage to 'withstand' it?
But 99.9% of the people on this thread will vote for her come November. So what are you whinning for?
I live in MS and work in AL. It's obvious the AL federal delegation is bringing in way more 'pork belly' projects to that state than our MS delegation is bringing to The Sipp. You never hear of the MS delegation doing much of anything... I thought Guest would be doing more. It seems Hyde-Smith is just doing what she's told with no proactive vision. As they say...THANK GOD FOR MISSISSIPPI!
" Her fierce loyalty to former President Donald Trump...."
"Former"? Sid Salter needs to keep with the news.....
@3:03pm Thank you for checking in, Senator Wicker! Glad you check this page. Why did we have to BEG you to support the SAVE act you’re now touting? Why was supporting it even a question? Weren’t you one of the last to throw your support behind it? Why aren’t you introducing that legislation yourself? What bills do you ever introduce? What projects outside of Northrop Grumman in Iuka can you actually say you brought here? Why did the Coast Guard just decide to put a training facility in Birmingham and also why did they decide to relocate the San Francisco Fannie Mae office there? Are you going to tell us that as the “senior” senator and chair of the armed forces committee you couldn’t move either of those to Mississippi? What do you even do? Bring us some pork, senator! Do something for once other than condemning your own state flag and rushing to chastise the President for posting a funny video of the Obamas on twitter! You sure are silent about most everything else. Worthless POS!
6:39, I am not Senator Wicker. I’m just a lifelong conservative who is able to differentiate between a show horse and a work horse. The fact that he may not be a MAGA show horse doesn’t take away his many contributions to the state. It’s to his credit that he doesn’t brag about himself. It’s unfortunate that your life has such little meaning and impact that you feel it necessary to demean a patriot of our country and our state.
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