Mississippi U.S. Senate- Race of the Day

Mississippi U.S. Senate

84 Days Until Election Day

Status: Republican Incumbent

2020 Presidential Result: Red State (South)

Outlook: Safe Republican

 

Yes, there is a Senate race in Mississippi this year, although it will not get much attention. Less than a year ago, Democrat Brandon Presley, then a state Public Service Commissioner, came within about three points of knocking off an incumbent Republican Governor in the heavily conservative Deep South State. However, once Presley resisted invitations to immediately begin a Senate campaign for 2024, Democrats were left all shook up (I had to get one in), and the race was safe for the Republicans.

Incumbent Roger Wicker has not made too many waves at home or many enemies on Capitol Hill. He took over an ancestrally Democrat U.S. House seat in 1994, was appointed to fill a Senate vacancy in 2007, and has easily won three statewide elections since, by increasing margins. As the Mississippi Republican Party has moved to the right though, some view Wicker as "too establishment", which eventually became a political problem for his former Senate colleague Thad Cochran. Wicker faced a primary this past March against two opponents who ran to his right.

 

The Senator managed to prevail pretty easily. After all, he could lay claim to Donald Trump's endorsement. Wicker took 61 percent, which was of course more than enough to avoid a runoff the following month. Retired Marine Colonel Ghannon Burton managed to take 25 percent of the vote while hard right State Representative Dan Eubanks took 14 percent.

With renomination assured, Wicker should have little difficulty defeating Democrat Ty Pinkins, an African-American attorney and activist. In 2023, he lost by 20 points after being slated as his party's replacement candidate for Secretary of State. Perhaps, that brief experience helped boltser Pinkins' name recognition, but Mississippi is just too Republican and beyond some grumblings to his right, Wicker is very much entrenched.

U.S. Senate races predicted thus far:

10 D  (6 Safe, 1 Likely,  2 Leans, 1 Tossup)

 3 R   (2 Safe, 1 Leans)

 

Total with predicted thus far:

38 Democrats (28 Holdover, 6 Safe, 1 Likely, 2 Leans, 1 Tossup)

41 Republicans (2 Safe, 1 Leans, 38 Holdover)