Trump Makes 12th Midterm Stop in Mississippi

President Donald Trump campaigned in Corinth, Mississippi, on Monday. He stood before a crowd to support Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. His voice sounded hoarse as he spoke to the audience. He told voters he was there because Hyde-Smith is performing well, but he needed to check in himself.

The event began a week of intensive campaigning for the president. He plans to visit states he won comfortably in the 2024 election. His schedule includes stops in Texas, South Carolina, and Iowa. Officials announced late Monday that Trump will also hold a rally in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday. That will be his second trip to the state in less than two weeks.

Mississippi is one of the most reliably Republican states in the country. It is not where party leaders expected the president to need a late-October appearance. However, Democratic challengers have expanded the list of competitive races. Voter dissatisfaction with inflation and the Iran war has driven this shift. These issues have affected the House and Senate maps nationwide.

Democrat Scott Colom is challenging Hyde-Smith for the Senate seat. Colom was present at the rally site on Monday. He said he went to listen to what Trump supporters were thinking. He told reporters that voters deserve a senator who listens to them and cares about their daily struggles. Trump later referred to Colom as a Marxist radical and a fake from the stage.

Hyde-Smith is seeking her second full term in the Senate. She remains the favorite in a state Trump won three times by an average of nearly 20 percentage points. Colom is a local prosecutor. If he wins, he would become Mississippi’s first Black senator since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. He is using inflation and Hyde-Smith’s mistakes to build his case for an upset.

The Senate Democrats’ super PAC has entered the Mississippi race recently. The group has invested $1.2 million in the contest. Mississippians have not chosen a new Democratic senator since 1947. Democrats last won a Senate race in the state in 1982, when John Stennis won his final reelection.

Vice President JD Vance is also campaigning across the country. He returned to Kansas to support Sen. Roger Marshall. Marshall faces a tight contest with Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton. Vance spoke to hundreds of people at a steel-fabricating company warehouse in north Topeka. Democrats have not won a Senate race in Kansas since 1932.

Marshall has raised less money than Hamilton. He told the crowd that Trump is effectively on the ballot because Democrats would block his agenda if they take control of Congress. He urged Republicans to match the energy of the Democratic campaign. In Montana, Vance campaigned in Belgrade for Republican Aaron Flint and Senate candidate Kurt Alme.

In New York, Rep. Mike Lawler manned a McDonald’s drive-thru window. Lawler is in a tight race with Democrat Cait Conley in the city’s northern suburbs. He mimicked a move Trump made two years ago. Lawler has tried to emphasize his independence from the president while seeking reelection.

Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said GOP candidates are closing strongly in races across the country. He cited South Carolina as an example, where Trump is set to visit for the second time in two weeks to support Sen. Darline Graham. Scott said the party’s chance at maintaining its majority is tied to the time and energy the president has invested on the trail.