New poll shows many voters souring on U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith
Gap is narrowing between incumbent senator and her Democratic challenger
Republicans still hold an advantage in Mississippi’s 2026 race for U.S. senator, but sagging favorability for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith could open up a path to victory for Democrats, according to a new poll released by the politically progressive SPLC Action Fund and Impact Research.
The poll of likely general election voters conducted in mid-April found that although Mississippi remains a predominately red state, Democratic candidate Scott Colom has narrowed the gap with voters, trailing Hyde-Smith by only 3 points in both a head-to-head race and in a three-way race with independent candidate Ty Pinkins. An SPLC Action Fund survey conducted in June 2025 found Colom behind by 13 points at that time.
“Everybody who has been watching Mississippi closely over the past decade knows that our highest-profile races have been hotly contested,” said Brandon Jones, director of political campaigns for SPLC Action Fund in a news release that accompanied the release of the poll. “By no means does this poll suggest a slam dunk for Scott Colom, but it does show that Mississippi is in play once again. Sen. Hyde-Smith is increasingly unpopular, which makes her vulnerable in a political environment that has not been kind to Republican candidates.”
The poll offers several insights about the state of the race for each candidate, including:
More voters know who Sen. Hyde-Smith is, but a majority hold an unfavorable impression of her. Although her name recognition with voters far exceeds that of her challengers, 55 percent have either a somewhat or very unfavorable view of her, and 53 percent said that they would prefer to vote for someone other than Hyde-Smith in the next election.
Scott Colom is making progress on introducing himself to voters, which is the key to his success. Colom has seen a bump of more than 20 percent in name recognition, which has increased his total favorability rating to 28 percent, up from 10 percent in June. When polled voters were provided more information about the background of the candidates, Colom actually took the lead in a three-way race, besting Hyde-Smith 41 percent to 38 percent.
Independent Ty Pinkins has the potential to play spoiler for either candidate. Voters are generally unfamiliar with Pinkins, who is currently polling at 6 percent, but that number doubles when voters are given more information about his campaign. His previous political affiliations would suggest that he hurts the Democratic nominee, but of the voters who said they would cast a ballot for Pinkins after learning more information about all of the candidates, approximately 70 percent identified as Republican.
Affordability—an increasingly sore subject under the Trump administration, which Hyde-Smith has unfailingly supported—came up in the poll. About a third of voters ranked inflation and cost of living as one of their top two priorities for Congress to address, followed by government corruption at 27 percent.
“Mississippi voters are fed up with the high cost of living and political scandals and corruption from elected officials,” said Kevin Akins, a partner with Impact Research. “This should serve as a warning sign for Cindy Hyde-Smith—a senator who is a villain in her home state with a record of raising prices on working families. A perfect storm is brewing in Mississippi, and this has all the makings of a competitive race.”