Former President Barack Obama endorsed Scott Colom for the U.S. Senate in a video posted to social media. Potential 2028 presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Kamala Harris have also endorsed him and campaigned on his behalf in the state. Endorsements have come from U.S. senators from other states and from Mississippi’s Democratic congressman, Bennie Thompson.
Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith’s single national endorsement from her party is a big one, for better or worse: President Donald Trump, who polls show is the least popular president at this point in their term in more than four decades, which has prompted many national Republican candidates to distance themselves during the ongoing campaign. Support for Trump in Mississippi has plummeted, as it has nationwide, where his approval rating had fallen to 34 percent as of July 2026, based on Pew Research Center polling.
Despite that, Hyde-Smith unabashedly touts her association with the president. Her campaign website still carries a “SIGN and Stand With President Trump Today” form and displays his endorsement prominently. Trump has described her as “100% MAGA.” He also claims she told him he did not need to hold a rally for her.
Hyde-Smith is widely supported among state Republican officials, including the party’s congressional representatives and U.S. senator. Though she does not list endorsements on her website, the Magnolia Tribune reported the following endorsements as of Jan. 22, 2026, citing her campaign manager as the source: U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker; U.S. Reps. Trent Kelly, Michael Guest and Mike Ezell; Gov. Tate Reeves; Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann; Attorney General Lynn Fitch; Treasurer David McRae; Auditor Shad White; Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson; and Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney. Also on the list are 37 state senators and 73 state representatives.
Taken together, the two candidates’ endorsements show that Hyde-Smith has solid Republican support from Mississippi officials and is closely aligned with the president while national Democrats appear to believe the seat can be flipped.
Trump endorsed Hyde-Smith on March 26, 2025, in a post on Truth Social in which he called her “100% MAGA” and gave her his “Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election.” He talked about the race again on March 12 of this year, at a Women’s History Month event in the East Room of the White House. Hyde-Smith was in the room. Two days earlier, she had won her primary. Trump asked her from the podium “what’d you get, 84, 85 percent of the vote?” Then he told the room about 2018, when she first ran and faced a runoff against Democrat Mike Espy.
“Cindy Hyde called me up years ago when she first ran,” Trump said, leaving off part of her surname. “It was a tough race.” He said Hyde-Smith asked him for a rally, then asked him to stay and do another one in a different part of the state. “Nobody’s ever, and we ended up with three of them,” Trump said, adding that she won “in a landslide.”
Trump’s endorsement in 2018 came in August of that year, before a special election, and his campaign appearances took place in the weeks before the runoff that she won on Nov. 27.
This year, Trump predicted, Hyde-Smith will be reelected. “And now she’s at 85 percent,” he said. “And now she wins. She doesn’t need rallies.” He said he offered to hold one for her anyway. “Do you want me to do a rally?” he said he asked. He gave her answer as “I don’t need any rallies, sir.”
Hyde-Smith’s campaign did not respond to questions about whether she declined a Trump rally, whether one is planned in Mississippi before the Nov. 3 election, or whether any other national Republican officials have campaigned for her or raised money for her this cycle.
Trump’s reference to 85 percent was for Hyde-Smith’s Republican primary vote. The general election race itself is close. National polls have varied, with some showing Hyde-Smith with a slight lead and others showing Colom closing the gap or even inching ahead.
Colom, who is currently the district attorney for Mississippi’s 16th Circuit Court District, has attracted significant attention from national Democrats. Kamala Harris said Wednesday that she will campaign for him in Mississippi later this month, after adding the state to a tour for Democratic candidates that will also take her to New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Buttigieg, a former mayor, presidential candidate and secretary of transportation under President Joe Biden, plans to campaign for Colom on the Coast. Obama has weighed in on Mississippi races before. He endorsed Espy in his failed bid against Hyde-Smith in 2018 and recorded a robocall for Jim Hood when Hood ran for governor in 2019.
Election Day is Nov. 3. Also on the ballot will be independent Ty Pinkins.
Image: Donald Trump kisses Cindy Hyde-Smith at a 2018 rally (via Creative Commons)
Being back by the bloviating orange balloon is nothing to crow about. I would love to see Ty Pinkens win this race as an Inde - but we'll take Colom if he can knock CHS off her fragile perch.