Congressional midterms are quickly approaching in Mississippi with party primaries happening on Tuesday, March 10. With seven contested primaries and a couple challengers deemed to be the most viable some districts have seen in years, it’s shaping up to be an election cycle worth watching.
Here’s who is running in each race.
U.S. Senate
U.S. Senate seats are purposely staggered, meaning just one of the state’s two seats will be on the ballot this year. After Republican Sen. Roger Wicker won a third term in 2024, it’s fellow Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s turn to see if she can keep her seat inside the capitol for a second full term.
Hyde-Smith was early in announcing her reelection bid, first revealing her plans in March 2024 to SuperTalk Mississippi News. She then officially launched her campaign in August 2025 during a trip to Jackson with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins by her side.
But even before Hyde-Smith began hitting the campaign trail, candidates were lining up to challenge the incumbent.
The first to publicly launch their campaign was independent Ty Pinkins, who lost to Wicker in the 2024 cycle. Pinkins, a Delta-based attorney, was the lone independent to file for the midterms race. One Republican, doctor and business owner Sarah Adlakha from Ocean Springs, filed to challenge Hyde-Smith in the primary and has used advertisements to attack Hyde-Smith’s campaign donations from lobbying groups, promising “more transparency, more trust, and a campaign focused on Mississippi.”
The Democratic side is busy with three candidates seeking the nomination: Columbus-based district attorney Scott Colom, Marine Corps veteran Albert R. Littell, and educator and civil rights advocate Priscilla W. Till. While Till, the cousin of the murdered civil rights icon Emmett Till, has somewhat strong name recognition, Colom is widely considered the frontrunner in the Democratic race.
Hyde-Smith, widely considered one of the most conservative senators on Capitol Hill, seems to be more concerned about Colom than Adlakha. Her campaign has already referred to Colom as “our general election opponent [who] continues to be funded by George Soros.” Colom narrowly outraised Hyde-Smith in the fourth quarter, but Hyde-Smith still has more money in the bank.
Colom – who may be running under a party label but says he “will work with anyone from any party” – has been a DA for nearly a decade and has received bipartisan support on the way to being reelected twice. Hyde-Smith formerly served as a state senator and agriculture commissioner and has staunch support within her own party, including several ringing endorsements from President Donald Trump.
U.S. House District 1
On the Republican side, incumbent Rep. Trent Kelly has no challengers as he seeks a sixth term. Kelly, a military veteran and attorney, currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee, where is chair of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee. He is also on the House Agriculture and Permanent Selection committees. He has an endorsement from Trump.
On the Democratic side, prominent civil rights attorney Cliff Johnson and broadcaster-turned-politician Kelvin Buck are slated to face off in the primary. Johnson is the director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law, and Buck previously served in the Mississippi House (2004-13) and as mayor of Holly Springs (2013-21).
One Libertarian challenger, Johnny Baucom, is in the race, as well.
Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District is made up of 21 counties in the northeast corner of the state. It includes Southaven, Tupelo, Oxford, Columbus, and Olive Branch.
U.S. House District 2
Mississippi’s longest-serving member of Congress, Rep. Bennie Thompson, is seeking his 18th term after first being elected in 1993. The Democrat has become one of his party’s most recognizable names on a national level after co-chairing the bipartisan House committee that investigated the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He was also the chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security from 2007-11 and again from 2019-23.
But, for the first time in a long time, Thompson is being challenged by more than one person on the Democratic side. Evan Turnage, a Yale-educated attorney from Jackson who has worked for Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), is running. Another political newcomer, Pertis Williams III, is also running.
Republican oilman and Adams County Board of Supervisors President Kevin Wilson is running against Ron Eller, a cardiothoracic physician assistant in Jackson, in the GOP primary. Bennie Foster, who works as the chief operating officer at New Vineyard Church in Jackson, filed as an independent.
Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District is made up of 28 counties concentrated along the Mississippi River and in the Delta region and holds portions of Madison and Hinds counties, including most of the city of Jackson.
U.S. House District 3
For the second cycle in a row, Rep. Michael Guest will have no challengers on the Republican side. However, one Democrat and one Libertarian are hoping to prevent Guest from grabbing a fifth term.
Former professional baseball player and now-regenerative farmer Michael Chiaradio is running as a Democrat. Erik Kiehle, a property manager and volunteer firefighter from Meridian, is running as a Libertarian.
Guest is a former prosecutor from Rankin County who was first elected in 2018. He currently serves as chair of the House Committee on Ethics and has seats on the House Homeland Security and Appropriations committees. He has an endorsement from Trump.
Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District covers central and southern portions of the state while stretching from the Louisiana border to the Alabama border. It includes a sliver of Jackson and the entireties of Brookhaven, Madison, Meridian, and Starkville.
U.S. House District 4
Rep. Mike Ezell has drawn one challenger on the Republican side. Former Mississippi Department of Marine Resources officer Sawyer Walters previously worked as a staffer for former Rep. Steven Palazzo, who Ezell unseated in 2022. Three Democrats and one independent are also trying to prevent Ezell from getting a third term in Washington.
Democrats running are Paul Blackman, D. Ryan Grover, and Jeffrey Hulum III. Blackman is a Navy veteran and political newcomer. Grover is a business consultant who was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2023. Hulum is a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives representing part of Harrison County and sits on several committees, including being vice chair of the Marine Resources Committee. Produce farmer Carl Boyanton is running as an independent.
Ezell, the former sheriff of Jackson County and a longtime law enforcement officer, currently serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he is chair of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee. He also serves on the House Natural Resources Committee. He has an endorsement from Trump.
Mississippi’s 4th Congressional District covers the southeastern portion of the state, including part of the Pine Belt and all of the Coast. It has three of the state’s four most populous cities: Gulfport, Biloxi, and Hattiesburg.
When are the elections?
Party primaries will be held on Tuesday, March 10, with polls statewide open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. If any runoffs are necessary, they will be held on Tuesday, April 7. The general election will be on Tuesday, Nov. 3.