'Republican imposter': Hyde-Smith shares editorial calling out primary opponent

When Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith reposted an editorial calling her Republican primary opponent a “Republican imposter,” she was amplifying an attack that applies to her own political biography.

The Madison County Journal editorial, published under the headline “Republican Imposter,” argues that Hyde-Smith’s challenger Sarah Adlakha—a physician from Ocean Springs—should disqualify herself from the GOP primary because she is a former Democrat. Hyde-Smith shared the piece to her Facebook page without comment.

Yet Hyde-Smith was herself elected to the Mississippi State Senate as a Democrat in 1999. She served in that capacity for more than a decade before switching parties in December 2010. The editorial acknowledges her party history but argues the two situations are different—Hyde-Smith has deep roots in the state, the piece contends, while Adlakha is a relative newcomer who registered to vote in Mississippi as recently as August 2024.

Adlakha disputed the editorial’s premise entirely.

“The editorial’s central claim is false—I have never been a Democrat, there was no party switch, and the only party switch in this race belongs to Sen. Hyde-Smith,” Adlakha told The Mississippi Independent.

Adlakha also pushed back on the outsider characterization. “I was raised and educated in Alabama and have lived in Mississippi for 14 years—where my husband and I chose to raise our family,” she said. “Sen. Hyde-Smith spent over a decade in elected office as a Democrat, voted in Democratic primaries, and switched parties in 2010.”

Jake Monssen, Hyde-Smith’s campaign manager, said he could not speak for the newspaper but offered the campaign’s own characterization of Adlakha. “Our guess is that her being from Chicago, only registering to vote in Mississippi in August of 2024, her recent history of working against Republican candidates, and her 2020 support for Kamala Harris all contributed to the characterization of her as an imposter,” Monssen told The Mississippi Independent.

Adlakha has publicly denied having supported Harris. Monssen did not provide evidence for the claim.

On the question of whether Hyde-Smith’s Democratic past undermines the attack, Monssen said, “One has served as a Republican and is endorsed by President Trump. The other has not.”

A familiar argument

Hyde-Smith’s political past was raised during the 2018 Republican primary, when challenger Chris McDaniel attacked her record as a former Democrat. Hyde-Smith responded that she had “always been a conservative.”

The reaction to Hyde-Smith’s repost of the editorial reflected that underlying tension. Several supporters argued the distinction between the two candidates was meaningful—that Hyde-Smith had spent her career in Mississippi while Adlakha had only recently put down roots. Others were less persuaded. “So neither one is a Republican!” one commenter wrote. Another offered a simpler rejoinder directly to the senator’s post: “So were you?”

“Cindy is a former Democrat,” another commenter wrote. “She was ushered in by former governor Phil Bryant. What legislation has she authored and passed since being a Senator?”

Hyde-Smith and Adlakha face each other in the Republican primary on March 10.

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Image: Screencap of repost of Madison County Journal editorial on Cindy Hyde-Smith’s Facebook page