Mississippi: who should earn your vote for Congress in 2026

Opinion · The paper’s scorecard

Mississippi: every race for Congress on the 3 November 2026 ballot, and how the candidates measure up against our standards.

Sitting and former members are scored on the same key votes, read from the official House and Senate roll calls; each vote links to the record. Candidates who have never served in Congress have no votes to score, and outside the battlegrounds we have not researched them, so they are marked as not scored. Where only one candidate could be measured, the mark rates that record on its own; it is not a verdict on the opponent. How the marks work · All states

U.S. Senate R+11

Leans our way: Cindy Hyde-Smith

Scott Colom

Democrat

No congressional voting record; not scored

Leans our way

Cindy Hyde-Smith

Republican · incumbent

Scored on 24 key votes · total +1

✓Smaller government
✓Small business over giants
✗Live and let live
✓Light touch on tech
✗Free speech
✗No surveillance state
✗Home first, open trade
~Checks on power
✓Right to bear arms
✓Hard on violent crime

With us (10)

Voted for the 2025 package cancelling about $9 billion in approved spending. Source
Voted against the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Source
Voted against the Inflation Reduction Act. Source

Against us (14)

Voted for the June 2026 bill adding about $70 billion for immigration enforcement. Source
Voted against the Respect for Marriage Act. Source
Voted for the 2024 package that carried the law forcing TikTok's sale or ban. Source

District 1 R+18

No mark

Cliff Johnson

Democrat

No congressional voting record; not scored

Trent Kelly

Republican · incumbent

Scored on 27 key votes · total +0

✓Smaller government
~Small business over giants
✗Live and let live
✓Light touch on tech
✗Free speech
✗No surveillance state
✗Home first, open trade
~Checks on power
✓Right to bear arms
✓Hard on violent crime

With us (14)

Voted for the Limit, Save, Grow Act tying the 2023 debt-limit increase to spending cuts. Source
Voted for the 2025 package cancelling about $9 billion in approved spending. Source
Voted for a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Source

Against us (13)

Voted against the 2022 antitrust package funding merger enforcement with fees on the largest deals. Source
Voted against the Respect for Marriage Act. Source
Voted for the 2024 law forcing TikTok's sale or ban. Source

District 2 D+11

No mark

Ron Eller

Republican

No congressional voting record; not scored

Bennie Thompson

Democrat · incumbent

Scored on 27 key votes · total -3

✗Smaller government
~Small business over giants
✓Live and let live
✗Light touch on tech
~Free speech
✗No surveillance state
✓Home first, open trade
~Checks on power
✗Right to bear arms
✗Hard on violent crime

With us (9)

Voted for the 2022 antitrust package funding merger enforcement with fees on the largest deals. Source
Voted for the Respect for Marriage Act. Source
Voted against the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which civil-liberties groups opposed as a limit on campus speech. Source

Against us (18)

Voted against the Limit, Save, Grow Act tying the 2023 debt-limit increase to spending cuts. Source
Voted against the 2025 package cancelling about $9 billion in approved spending. Source
Voted against a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Source

District 3 R+14

No mark

Michael Chiaradio

Democrat

No congressional voting record; not scored

Michael Guest

Republican · incumbent

Scored on 27 key votes · total +0

✓Smaller government
~Small business over giants
✗Live and let live
✓Light touch on tech
✗Free speech
✗No surveillance state
✗Home first, open trade
~Checks on power
✓Right to bear arms
✓Hard on violent crime

With us (15)

Voted for the Limit, Save, Grow Act tying the 2023 debt-limit increase to spending cuts. Source
Voted for the 2025 package cancelling about $9 billion in approved spending. Source
Voted for a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Source

Against us (12)

Voted against the 2022 antitrust package funding merger enforcement with fees on the largest deals. Source
Voted against the Respect for Marriage Act. Source
Voted for the 2024 law forcing TikTok's sale or ban. Source

District 4 R+21

✓ Meets our standards: Mike Ezell

Meets our standards

Mike Ezell

Republican · incumbent

Scored on 21 key votes · total +3

✓Smaller government
✓Small business over giants
?Live and let live
✓Light touch on tech
✗Free speech
✗No surveillance state
✗Home first, open trade
✓Checks on power
✓Right to bear arms
✓Hard on violent crime

With us (11)

Voted for the Limit, Save, Grow Act tying the 2023 debt-limit increase to spending cuts. Source
Voted for the 2025 package cancelling about $9 billion in approved spending. Source
Voted for a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Source

Against us (10)

Voted for the 2024 law forcing TikTok's sale or ban. Source
Voted for the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which civil-liberties groups opposed as a limit on campus speech. Source
Voted against the amendment requiring a warrant to search Americans' communications under FISA Section 702 (it failed 212-212). Source

Jeffrey Hulum III

Democrat

No congressional voting record; not scored

Photo credits. Official congressional portraits are works of the U.S. government and in the public domain.