Polls open Tuesday in primary election

Published 2:33 pm Monday, March 9, 2026

Polls will be open Tuesday for Lauderdale County residents to vote in the 2026 primary elections. Voting hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and voters must bring a photo ID such as a driver’s license, passport, military identification card or other government identification.

On the ballot in the Republican primary, incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, is running for her party’s nomination against challenger Sara Alakha, a doctor from the Gulf Coast. Hyde-Smith served as state Commissioner of Agriculture prior to being appointed to the Senate in 2018 by Gov. Phil Bryant after longtime Sen. Thad Cochran stepped down.

Also on the Republican ballot is Rep. Michael Guest, who represents Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District. Guest, who has also served since 2018, is a former district attorney for Madison and Rankin counties. He is running unopposed for the Republican nomination.

On the Democratic ballot, Columbus district attorney Scott Colum, Marine Corps veteran and retired Chicago Transit Authority worker Albert R. Littell, and Pricilla W. Till, a distant relative of Emmitt Till, are running for their party’s nomination for U.S. Senate. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two candidates will move to a runoff election April 7.

The winner of the Republican and Democratic Senate races will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election along with Independent candidate Ty Pinkins.

Also on the Democratic ballot is former professional baseball player and farmer Michael A. Chiaradio, who is running for Congress in Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District against Guest. Like Guest, he does not have a challenger in the primary. Both men will move forward to the general election where they’ll be joined on the ballot by Libertarian candidate Erik Kiehle.

Mississippi has open primaries, which means voters do not have to declare a party when registering to vote. Once at their polling location, voters will need to decide whether to participate in the Democratic or Republican primary and receive the ballot for that party’s contest.

In the event of a runoff, only voters who participated in that party’s primary election will be eligible to vote in runoff election. For example, a voter who participates in the Republican primary would not be able to vote in a runoff between two Democratic candidates.