Donald Trump has taken his midterm campaign blitz to Mississippi, a state Republicans have long regarded as safe, as a surprisingly competitive Senate race highlights the party’s broader difficulties ahead of voting day.
The president appeared in Corinth on Monday to support Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is seeking a second full term against Democrat Scott Colom. Trump told supporters: “I’m here because Cindy’s doing great, but I just got to make sure. I can’t take a chance.”
Hyde-Smith remains the favourite in Mississippi, which Trump has won three times by an average of almost 20 percentage points. But Colom, a local prosecutor, is seeking to exploit voter discontent over inflation, Trump’s popularity and what he described as mistakes by his Republican opponent.
Colom attended the rally site before Trump’s arrival, an unusual encounter between the president’s supporters and a Democratic candidate who was later attacked from the stage as a “Marxist radical” and a “fake” and “shameless phony who pretends to be a moderate”.
He said he had gone to hear what Trump supporters were concerned about, arguing that they deserved a senator who would listen to them and care about what they were experiencing.
The contest has drawn late support from the Senate Democrats’ super political action committee, which has invested $1.2 million. A Colom victory would make him Mississippi’s first Black senator since Reconstruction, although Democrats have not elected a senator in the state since 1982.
Trump’s midterm campaign blitz expands
Trump’s Mississippi visit began an intensive final week of campaigning, with further appearances planned in reliably Republican states including Texas, South Carolina and Iowa. Officials also announced a rally in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday, his second visit to the state in less than two weeks.
At the Mississippi event, Trump said he had expected petrol prices to rise even higher and told the crowd of the war with Iran: “It worked out fine and it’ll be over soon.”
Vice-President JD Vance was also campaigning for Republican candidates, returning to Kansas to support Senator Roger Marshall in a close contest with Democratic nominee and pastor Adam Hamilton.
Marshall told voters that Trump was effectively on the ballot because Democrats would obstruct his agenda if they won control of Congress. Vance had earlier campaigned in Montana alongside Republican congressional candidate Aaron Flint and Senate candidate Kurt Alme.
Republican Senator Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said the party was “closing very strongly” and credited Trump with investing time and energy in the campaign trail.
More than 30 million voters have already cast ballots, according to figures collected from election administrators. Democrats are seeking to end the Republicans’ narrow House majority, regain control of the Senate and make gains in state capitals.
Former vice-president Kamala Harris was campaigning in Wisconsin with Milwaukee County executive David Crowley, the Democratic candidate for governor. Crowley is facing Republican congressman Tom Tiffany and would become the state’s first Black governor if elected.
In Michigan, Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed disowned an advert produced by Rebellion PAC that linked high grocery prices to US support for Israel. His campaign said the advert was not affiliated with it, while El-Sayed has both condemned antisemitism and criticised Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
The breadth of Trump’s tour, including the decision to campaign in Mississippi, underlines the unexpectedly wide map confronting Republicans with only a week of campaigning left.
