Trump Travels to Mississippi to Aid Hyde-Smith as Republican Senate Contests Tighten

President Donald Trump campaigned in Corinth, Mississippi, on Monday to support Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, whose re-election bid has drawn a challenge from Democrat Scott Colom. "I'm here because Cindy's doing great, but I just got to make sure. I can't take a chance," Trump told the crowd, speaking with a hoarse voice.

Hyde-Smith is seeking her second full term in a state Trump has won three times by an average of nearly 20 percentage points. Mississippi has not elected a new Democratic senator since 1947, and the last Democrat to win a Senate race there was John Stennis, who took his final reelection in 1982. Colom, a local prosecutor, would become Mississippi's first Black senator since Reconstruction. The Senate Democrats' super PAC has put $1.2 million into the contest.

Colom appeared at the rally site ahead of Trump's arrival. He said he had planned to go to hear what Trump supporters were thinking. "They actually deserve a senator that will listen to them, that actually cares about what they think, actually cares about what they're going through," Colom said. From the stage, Trump called Colom a "Marxist radical," a "fake" and a "shameless phony who pretends to be a moderate."

The Mississippi stop opened a week of rallies in states Trump carried in 2024, with additional events planned in Texas, South Carolina and Iowa, along with a Saturday rally in Salina, Kansas. Vice President JD Vance campaigned in Topeka, Kansas, for Sen. Roger Marshall, who faces Democratic nominee and pastor Adam Hamilton. Democrats have not won a Kansas Senate race since 1932. Marshall told the crowd that Democrats are turning out as they do in a presidential year and called on Republicans to match that pace.

More than 30 million voters had cast ballots as of Monday, according to data gathered by The Associated Press from election administrators. Former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared in Wisconsin with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who faces Rep. Tom Tiffany in the governor's race. In Michigan, Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said an ad from Rebellion PAC was not connected to his campaign. The spot, which ties grocery prices to U.S. support for Israel, drew criticism from Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost to El-Sayed in the primary.

Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said GOP candidates are "closing very strongly" in races including South Carolina, where Trump is scheduled to appear a second time in two weeks for Sen. Darline Graham. Trump said he had expected gas prices tied to the Iran war to rise further. "It worked out fine and it'll be over soon," he said.

In New York, Rep. Mike Lawler, who faces Democrat Cait Conley in the northern suburbs, worked a McDonald's drive-thru on the trail.