Trump Rallies in Mississippi as Senate Race Enters Final Stretch
WHO:
CBS News - Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he expects to seek another term as Republican leader, adding, “my expectation is, yes.”
CBS News - Sen. Mike Rounds called Thune “steady, conservative” and said he “doesn't lose his temper very easily”; Sen. Bernie Moreno called him “super nice” and “incredibly well respected,” and Sen. Lisa Murkowski called him “a really decent man.”
CBS News - Former Sen. Joe Manchin said he hoped Thune “gets his support” while working under a president “who's demanding total loyalty above everything else.”
CBS News Politics - Senate Majority Leader John Thune campaigned with Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa and said she would support President Trump when she agreed with him and be a “thorn in his side” when she did not.
CBS News Politics - Thune said he expects to seek another term as Senate Republican leader.
NPR - Trump described Hyde-Smith as “doing great” and said, “I just got to make sure. I can't take a chance.”
NPR - Trump called Scott Colom a “Marxist radical,” “fake,” and a “shameless phony who pretends to be a moderate.”
NPR - Colom attended Trump’s rally site and said voters “deserve a senator that will listen to them.”
NPR - Kamala Harris campaigned in Wisconsin with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who is running for governor against Rep. Tom Tiffany.
NPR - Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed disavowed an ad by Rebellion PAC; spokesperson Roxie Richner said it was not affiliated with his campaign.
NPR - Vice President JD Vance campaigned in Kansas for Sen. Roger Marshall, who faces Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton.
NPR - Vance also campaigned in Montana with Republican congressional candidate Aaron Flint and Senate candidate Kurt Alme.
NPR - Sen. Tim Scott said GOP candidates were “closing very strongly.”
NBC News - Democratic challenger Scott Colom is described as a Black lawyer and prosecutor.
NBC News - Republican strategists Ron Bonjean and Jesse Lehrich commented on potential 2028 candidates and campaign activity.
ABC News Politics - President Donald Trump is campaigning for Republicans.
IJR - Trump is campaigning with Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.
IJR - Democrat Colom is challenging Hyde-Smith in the Senate race.
WHAT:
NPR - Senate Democrats’ super PAC invested $1.2 million in the Mississippi race.
NBC News - Republicans won Mississippi at both the presidential and Senate levels by more than 20 points two years ago.
CBS News - Thune said Senate Republicans approved President Trump’s agenda through six marathon overnight vote sessions.
CBS News - Republicans entered the final campaign stretch with an “unprecedented financial advantage,” according to Senate Leadership Fund executive director Alex Latcham.
CBS News - Republican strategist Kyle Kondik said Republicans were “50-50 at best” to hold the Senate and that Democrats might be slightly ahead.
NPR - Sen. Roger Marshall said Trump was “on the ballot” because Democrats would thwart his agenda if they won control of Congress; Marshall had raised far less campaign money than Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton.
NPR - Sen. Tim Scott said Trump was scheduled to visit South Carolina for a second time in as many weeks to campaign for Sen. Lindsey Graham.
NPR - Democratic Sen. John Stennis won his last reelection in Mississippi in 1982; Democrats last won a Senate race in the state in 1982.
CBS News Politics - Thune said the Senate passed President Trump’s tax, border-security and defense agenda, along with bipartisan legislation on housing, stablecoins, revenge porn and fentanyl.
CBS News Politics - Thune said Republicans had opposed more than a dozen Democratic efforts to limit the president’s war powers.
CBS News Politics - Sen. John Curtis said Republicans had not addressed affordability, citing high gas and diesel prices.
CBS News Politics - Sen. John Kennedy said Republicans should have focused on affordability after passing Trump’s tax bill in summer 2025.
CBS News Politics - Thune said the Republican Senate majority had 53 members but was closer to 46 in practice.
NPR - More than 30 million people had already voted, according to Associated Press data collected from election administrators.
NPR - Harris called the Wisconsin governor’s contest “a tight race because the stakes are so high.”
NPR - Trump said he expected gas prices to rise higher and said of the Iran war, “It worked out fine and it'll be over soon.”
NPR - Trump announced a rally in Salina, Kansas; officials said it would be his second visit to the state in less than two weeks.
NPR - David Crowley could become Wisconsin’s first Black governor; El-Sayed could become the country’s first Muslim senator.
NBC News - A Democratic Senate super PAC invested $1.3 million in Mississippi; its Republican counterpart responded with a $1.4 million ad campaign attacking Scott Colom.
NBC News - Democrats’ hypothetical Senate gains—defending their seats, flipping North Carolina, defeating Susan Collins in Maine, and winning Texas—would give them 50 seats, leaving Republicans in control with Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote.
NBC News - More than a dozen high-profile Democrats visited South Carolina ahead of the election, as potential presidential candidates used early-primary states as a 2028 testing ground.
Newsweek - Kamala Harris is also drawn into the unexpectedly competitive Mississippi Senate race.
ABC News - Barack Obama and Trump campaigned for their respective parties’ candidates in Michigan’s Senate race.
ABC News Politics - Trump is continuing a closing midterm campaign blitz.
IJR - Trump is holding a rally with Hyde-Smith.
IJR - Colom has outraised Hyde-Smith.
WHERE:
CBS News Politics - Thune and Hinson held a roundtable with six local business owners at a strip-mall bar and grill in Sioux City, Iowa.
NPR - Trump’s Mississippi rally was held in Corinth.
NPR - Harris campaigned in Wisconsin; Vance campaigned in north Topeka, Kansas, and Belgrade, Montana.
ABC News Politics - Trump is heading to Mississippi.
IJR - Trump’s rally with Hyde-Smith is in Mississippi.
WHEN:
IJR - Trump’s rally is scheduled for Oct. 26, 2026.
IJR - The rally is eight days before the midterms.
ABC News Politics - The campaign activity is ahead of midterm Election Day.
WHY:
NBC News - A Republican strategist said polls and “the fringe left” had pushed expectations of a Democratic wave to unusually high levels.
CBS News Politics - Thune said Republicans’ prospects were challenged by the Iran war and high gas prices; analyst Kyle Kondik said the conflict and its economic effects opened the door for Democrats.
NPR - NPR reported that voter discontent over inflation, the Iran war, and other aspects of Trump’s second presidency helped Democratic underdogs expand House and Senate battleground maps.
NBC News - Republican spending in Mississippi aims to protect the state for the GOP; Democrats’ late investment has raised expectations that they could flip the Senate.
ABC News Politics - The campaign blitz comes as the two parties prepare for a final sprint and Republicans face challenges ahead of the election.
ABC News Politics - The election could drastically shift power in Washington and statehouses across the country.
IJR - Hyde-Smith is facing a Senate battle against Democrat Colom.
HOW:
ABC News Politics - Trump is campaigning through a closing midterm blitz.
IJR - Trump is supporting Hyde-Smith with a rally; Colom has outraised her.
IJR - Trump won Mississippi by nearly 20 points on average.
(UPDATED October 27, 2026 20:05 UTC)
President Trump and former President Barack Obama are campaigning for their parties’ Senate candidates, with Trump rallying in Mississippi for Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith as she faces Democrat Scott Colom, who has raised more money. Democratic groups have invested heavily in the race, while Republicans are spending to defend the seat; more than 30 million people have already voted, and strategists say control of the Senate remains uncertain. Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he expects to seek another term as Republican leader, as he touts the party’s record while Republicans face criticism over affordability and the economic effects of the Iran war.
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(UPDATED October 27, 2026 17:05 UTC)
President Trump is campaigning for Republicans in the final midterm push, rallying in Mississippi for Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith as she faces Democratic challenger Scott Colom, who has outraised her; Trump called Colom a “Marxist radical” and said Hyde-Smith was “doing great.” The unexpectedly competitive Mississippi race has drawn major spending from both parties, while more than 30 million people have already voted and Democrats see voter frustration over inflation, gas prices and the Iran war as an opening. Campaigning across the country, Vice President JD Vance backed Republicans in Kansas and Montana, Kamala Harris joined Wisconsin governor candidate David Crowley, and Senate Republican leader John Thune campaigned in Iowa while saying he expects to seek another term as leader.
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(UPDATED October 27, 2026 16:07 UTC)
President Trump campaigned in Corinth, Mississippi, for Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who faces Democrat Scott Colom, while calling Colom a “Marxist radical” and a “shameless phony”; Colom said voters deserve a senator who will listen, and he has outraised Hyde-Smith. More than 30 million people had already voted, and outside groups poured millions into the Mississippi race as Democrats sought to expand the Senate battleground map. Kamala Harris campaigned in Wisconsin, and Vice President JD Vance stumped for Republicans in Kansas and Montana as both parties intensified their final midterm push.
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(UPDATED October 26, 2026 23:59 UTC)
President Trump is campaigning with Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi as she faces a surprisingly competitive challenge from Democrat Scott Colom, who has outraised her. A Democratic Senate super PAC has invested $1.3 million in the state, while its Republican counterpart has launched a $1.4 million ad campaign attacking Colom, as both parties make their final push before the midterms. Democrats’ best-case Senate scenario would give them 50 seats, but Republicans would retain control with Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote, while more than a dozen prominent Democrats are using South Carolina visits to test the waters for 2028.
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(UPDATED October 26, 2026 23:13 UTC)
President Trump is campaigning in Mississippi as part of a closing midterm blitz, rallying with Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. Hyde-Smith is facing Democrat Colom, who has outraised her, in a Senate race that comes as Republicans confront challenges ahead of the election. The midterms could reshape power in Washington and statehouses across the country.