Cindy Hyde-Smith

Cindy Hyde-Smith is an American Republican politician who has represented Mississippi MississippiMississippi is a state of the United States on the Gulf of Mexico; Jackson is both its capital and its largest city. It was admitted to the Union on December 10, 1817, as the 20th state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 2,961,279.Open the full entry in the U.S. Senate since April 2018 and is the first woman elected to represent the state in Washington. She previously served 12 years in the Mississippi State Senate and was the state’s commissioner of agriculture and commerce. In November 2026 she lost her reelection race to Democrat Scott Colom Scott ColomScott Colom is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who has served as district attorney for Mississippi’s 16th Judicial District since 2016. He ran against Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate election on November 3, 2026; after more than a week of counting, the Associated Press declared him the winner on November 11, and Hyde-Smith conceded that day.Open the full entry and conceded on November 11.

Contents7 sections

Key facts

Early Career: Farming Family and the State Senate

Hyde-Smith is a graduate of Copiah-Lincoln Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi. Her family, which has farmed for five generations, raises beef cattle and is a partner in a local stockyard auction market in Brookhaven.⁠[1]

She served 12 years in the Mississippi State Senate, including eight years as chair of its Agriculture Committee.⁠[1]

2011–2018Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce

In 2011 she was elected Mississippi commissioner of agriculture and commerce and was reelected in 2015. Her Senate office’s biography says that in that role she worked to reopen foreign markets to American beef exports, advocated country-of-origin food labeling and pushed for imported catfish to meet USDA food safety standards.⁠[1]

From 2018U.S. Senator

In April 2018 Hyde-Smith was appointed to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by longtime Senator Thad Cochran, won the November 2018 special election to complete his term and was elected to a full six-year term in November 2020. She is the first woman elected to represent Mississippi in Washington.⁠[1]

In the 119th Congress she serves on the Appropriations Committee; the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; and the Committee on Rules and Administration, and she leads the Senate Pro-Life Caucus. Her first bill, which extended duck season, became law in March 2019 as part of a larger legislative package.⁠[1]

2023Blocking Scott Colom’s Judicial Nomination

In 2023 Hyde-Smith blocked the nomination of district attorney Scott Colom, Joe Biden Joe BidenJoe Biden (born 1942) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. He was previously a U.S. senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009 and the 47th vice president, under Barack Obama, from 2009 to 2017.Open the full entry’s pick for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi; Colom later became her opponent in the 2026 election.⁠[2][3]

2026Losing Reelection

In 2026 Hyde-Smith sought a second full term and in October campaigned with President Donald Trump Donald TrumpDonald Trump (born 1946) is an American politician and businessman, a Republican who ran the real estate company the Trump Organization and starred in the television series The Apprentice. He served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 and has been the 47th president since 2025.Open the full entry at a rally. Counting after the November 3 general election lasted more than a week; on November 11 the Associated Press Associated PressThe Associated Press is a cooperative news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it is the oldest and largest news agency in the United States.Open the full entry declared Democrat Scott Colom the winner, and in figures cited by ABC ABCABC (American Broadcasting Company) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It grew out of NBC’s Blue radio network, took its name after becoming independent in 1943, developed into a national television network after merging with United Paramount Theatres in 1953, was acquired by Capital Cities in 1985, and has been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1996. With CBS and NBC it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks, and it is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry News at the time, with about 99% of the expected vote counted, Colom had 49.2% to Hyde-Smith’s 48.7%.⁠[2]

She called Colom that afternoon to concede and posted a video on X in which she said this was not the outcome she had hoped for but that she respected the decision of Mississippi voters, congratulating Colom and wishing him well in representing the state.⁠[4][2]

Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts

Senate office: Official website: https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

X: https://x.com/SenHydeSmith (opens in a new window); Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorCindyHydeSmith/ (opens in a new window); Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sencindyhydesmith/ (opens in a new window); YouTube YouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJHxkJhGST0NTlkzJHWV03Q (opens in a new window) (all linked from the Senate office website).⁠[1]