The Democrat Party’s grip on Mississippi is coming apart at the seams.
Their own candidates are fleeing in disgust.
And all hell broke loose when this Mississippi Democrat walked away from his party and revealed what they really wanted.
Mississippi Democrats hit by second major defection in under a year
Mississippi Democrats are watching their party implode from the inside as yet another high-profile candidate abandons ship.
Ty Pinkins, the Democrat Party’s nominee for U.S. Senate in 2024, officially left the party last week and announced he’s running as an independent against Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in 2026.¹
This marks the second major defection from the Mississippi Democrat Party in less than a year.
Shuwaski Young, who was the Democrats’ nominee for Secretary of State before Pinkins replaced him in 2023, left the party in October 2024, calling it "unrecognizable."²
Young has since switched to the Republican Party and announced his intention to run in the GOP primary for Secretary of State in 2027.
The exodus shows that even lifelong Democrats can’t stomach what their party has become.
Pinkins, a Delta native who grew up chopping cotton in Rolling Fork, had faithfully served as the party’s standard-bearer for multiple races.
The U.S. Army veteran dutifully suspended his first Senate campaign in 2023 when party bosses asked him to step in as their replacement candidate for Secretary of State after Young dropped out due to health concerns.
Pinkins got crushed in that Secretary of State race, losing to Republican Michael Watson by a devastating 20-point margin.
In 2024, he picked up his Senate campaign again and faced Republican incumbent Roger Wicker, losing by nearly 25 points despite being the party’s only candidate in the primary.
But instead of gratitude for his loyalty, Pinkins discovered the Democrat Party was more interested in money than his vision for Mississippi.
Pinkins exposes the ugly truth about Democrat "gatekeepers"
In a scathing blog post on Substack, Pinkins revealed the disgusting treatment he received from his own party.³
"I refuse to operate in a system that prioritizes money over people," Pinkins told the Clarion Ledger. "I was asked more about fundraising than about any values or anything about my vision as United States senator coming from Mississippi than anything else. It was all about money. I don’t think that’s leadership, it’s gatekeeping, and that’s why I’m running as an independent now, to stay accountable to the people and not the party."⁴
The Democrat Party’s obsession with cash over character became crystal clear when they started pushing him to drop out of the race to make room for their handpicked candidate.
Mississippi Democrats want Lowndes County District Attorney Scott Colom to run against Hyde-Smith, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reportedly telling associates that Colom is "the right man for the job."⁵
What makes this even more disgusting is that Colom has deep ties to left-wing billionaire George Soros, who pumped nearly $1 million into a political action committee that backed Colom’s successful District Attorney campaign back in 2015.⁶
So the Democrats wanted to push out their loyal veteran candidate to make room for a Soros-backed prosecutor.
Pinkins described in detail a phone call with State Representative Tracey Rosebud in 2023, where the fellow Delta Democrat was furious that Pinkins didn’t get "permission" from party "gatekeepers" before announcing his Senate run.
"Gatekeeping is how the party protects its fragile status quo — by silencing anyone who might disrupt it," Pinkins wrote. "Candidates who challenge convention or dare to ask hard questions are often ignored, undermined, or outright punished."⁷
The party bosses even went so far as to threaten Pinkins and offer incentives for him to end his campaign.
This is the modern Democrat Party in action — a corrupt machine that serves wealthy donors and party insiders while claiming to fight for working families.
Trump-backed Hyde-Smith faces primary challenge as Democrats scramble
Pinkins’ defection leaves the Democrats in total disarray for what was supposed to be a competitive Senate race.
Senator Hyde-Smith has already secured President Donald Trump’s endorsement for her 2026 reelection bid.
"Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith is 100% MAGA, and doing a fantastic job representing the Incredible People of Mississippi!" Trump wrote on Truth Social in March.⁸
Hyde-Smith, who made history as Mississippi’s first female to hold federal office, won her previous races against well-funded Democrat opponents by comfortable margins.
She defeated former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy by nearly 8 points in 2018 and by 10 points in 2020, despite Espy raising more money than the incumbent Republican senator — an almost unheard-of feat in Mississippi politics.⁹
But Hyde-Smith isn’t taking anything for granted and does face a Republican primary challenge from Dr. Sarah Adlakha, a political newcomer from Ocean Springs.
Adlakha, a physician and author who moved to Mississippi 13 years ago, advocates for reducing government waste, cutting unnecessary spending, and converting Medicaid into block grants to give Mississippi more control.¹⁰
The Ocean Springs resident put her own psychiatric career on hold to help build her husband’s cardiology practice, where she’s handled the business operations for over a decade.
She may find fertile ground among conservatives, as Hyde-Smith has repeatedly voted for bigger government.11
On the Democrat side, only Albert Littell of Long Beach remains as a declared candidate, showing zero cash on hand according to Federal Election Commission records.¹2
Like Pinkins, Littell has a military background, but he’s a complete unknown with no fundraising operation.
National Democrats scramble for "political lottery tickets"
The chaos in Mississippi comes as national Democrats are desperately searching for competitive races in Republican strongholds.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democrat strategists are reportedly "thinking outside the box" and "looking for political lottery tickets" in states like Mississippi, according to the New York Times.¹3
Schumer told associates that he sees an opportunity in Mississippi because it "has the largest percentage of Black residents of any state."
The Times also noted that Mississippi "is small and relatively cheap to compete in" — showing how Democrats view the state as a bargain-basement experiment rather than taking its voters seriously.
But their preferred candidate, Scott Colom, was blocked by Hyde-Smith when President Biden tried to appoint him to a federal judgeship.
Now Democrats are stuck with an unknown candidate while their former nominee runs as an independent, potentially splitting the anti-Hyde-Smith vote.
To get on the ballot as an independent, Pinkins must collect at least 1,000 voter signatures and pay a $1,000 filing fee.¹4
As an independent, he’ll face both the Democrat and Republican nominees in the November general election, creating a three-way race that could benefit Hyde-Smith.
Pinkins says his campaign "isn’t about political parties — it’s about the people."
"The forgotten, the working, the hopeful," he stated. "If you’re tired of being taken for granted by politicians who answer to donors instead of you, then join me."15
The Mississippi Democrat Party’s treatment of Pinkins shows exactly what’s wrong with the modern Left — they talk about fighting for working families while serving wealthy elites and party bosses.
Mississippi voters haven’t sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1982, and with this kind of dysfunction, that streak isn’t likely to end anytime soon.
1 Taylor Vance, "Ty Pinkins, Shuwaski Young leave Democratic Party, announce campaigns," Mississippi Today, July 1, 2025.
2 Ibid.
3 Frank Corder, "Gatekeepers, sabotage, political malpractice: Pinkins parts ways with the Democratic Party," Magnolia Tribune, July 1, 2025.
4 Grant McLaughlin, "Pinkins leaving MS Democratic Party, running as independent. What to know," Yahoo News, July 1, 2025.
5 Ibid.
6 Corder, "Gatekeepers, sabotage, political malpractice."
7 Ibid.
8 Frank Corder, "Hyde-Smith draws GOP challenger as Democrats target her Mississippi U.S. Senate seat," Magnolia Tribune, May 9, 2025.
9 Bobby Harrison, "Cindy Hyde-Smith hopes 2026 will be her first easy U.S. Senate campaign," Mississippi Today, June 29, 2025.
10 Corder, "Hyde-Smith draws GOP challenger."
11 Club for Growth 2024 Congressional Scorecard
12 Corder, "Gatekeepers, sabotage, political malpractice."
13 Corder, "Hyde-Smith draws GOP challenger."
14 McLaughlin, "Pinkins leaving MS Democratic Party."
15 Ben Milam, "U.S. Senate hopeful Ty Pinkins announces departure from Democratic Party," SuperTalk Mississippi, July 1, 2025.
