US Midterms 2026 latest: Mississippi Blues

Hello there, good to have you with us, and welcome to Al Jazeera's Midterms Roundup. I'm Jonah Hull, and with 12 days to go now until Election Day, early voting is surging in several states. And all those states have races that could decide who gets to control the Senate. Kansas tops the list. Early voting there has more than doubled since the last midterms in 2022. Texas, which many say is the heart of this election cycle, is next. And that's followed by Maine, North Carolina and Ohio. Well, we have correspondence in those key states in Texas, in Maine, North Carolina and also Tennessee. But let's go first to Phil Lavelle, who's in Houston, Texas for us. Phil, lots of early voting taking place where you are. Help us understand what we can glean from the data that comes back from that early voting and what it tells us about how this might affect the race races. Yeah, Jonah, a lot. It doesn't tell us necessarily how people are voting. We'll find that out on November 3rd. But what it shows us is just how engaged people are. You look at those numbers. They've broken records here in Texas. They're up 74% on 2022. In Maine, Ohio, North Carolina, they're up 30%. In Kansas, they are double. Now, what this shows is that people are taking advantage of convenience because the election is no longer just one day. It's a build-up to one day. People have got to work. They've got kids. But also, typically in the past, it has been Democrats that would vote earlier. Republicans would generally wait until Election Day. Now we're seeing the president saying to Republicans, you've got to get out. You've got to vote early because the Republicans know just how important that turnout is because they really want people to get to the polls to make sure that those polls are not what they suggest they are. And in Kansas, they're very split. Remember, this is a very Republican state. It's not elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly 100 years. And now there is just 0.3% between the two candidates. They had their last debate last night, and affordability was the name of the game. The real problem with the cost of diesel in particular is, number one, is the Ukraine war. And because of that, diesel production has gone down. But beyond that, why are we dependent upon diesel imports? It's because of the Green New Deal policy that my opponent supports. See, he just said that the war in Iran is not the problem. The war in Ukraine is a problem. the Ukrainians trying to defend themselves are the reason why we have record diesel prices? Nobody believes that. This happened in response to the war in Iran that didn't need to happen, was not a necessary war. And this is why the prices went to record highs. And Roger Marshall supported that. So the Republican candidate there is saying, look, stay with me. I'm a Republican. This is a Republican state. You know what you're going to get. The Democrat is actually a former Republican. And that party is there for hoping that people who would never normally vote Democrat in a million years, not if their life depended on it, will now say, yeah, I might give this guy a chance because he's got a Republican DNA. There's something in there that maybe I can latch on to. Now, in terms of the big aspects in Kansas, farming is a huge aspect. Diesel prices we just heard about, they have doubled and it is the midst of harvest season. So people are feeling this really acutely. And that's driving turnout in a lot of red states. Another one we're going to hear from Alex Bird, who's going to explain to us what that is all about so we're going to zoom in on a state which wasn't even on this map until two days ago and honestly i was so surprised that we had to double check because the non-partisan Cook Political report now has Mississippi of all states deeply southern and deeply red leaning republican not likely republican meaning the state isn't a sure bet anymore the democrats have caught wind of what's happening in Mississippi and have just launched their first tv ad there to attack incumbent senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. Now she has held that seat since 2018. She's the first woman to represent the state in Congress and she actually used to be a Democrat when she was serving at a state level and then switched parties in 2010 saying it was because of her conservative beliefs. Now her Democratic opponent is here, Scott Colome. He's the first black district attorney to represent a majority white district in Mississippi history. Now when I say this is a deeply red state. I really, I really do mean it because you see here, this is John Stennis. He was the last Democratic senator to serve Mississippi back in 1989. And the last time there was a black senator was in 1871 with Hiram Revels here. That was only six years after the Civil War. That's interesting because Mississippi has the highest proportion of black residents for any state in the country, more than a third of the state. No one expected that of all states Mississippi would have a competitive edge. So competitive that even the President has just announced that he's heading to the state to rally next week. Okay, well early voting also surging in the state of Maine, going up 39% compared to 2022. Eva McKend is there for us in Portland, Maine. And Eva Maine, of course, the scene of another particularly tight senatorial race, Republican Senator Susan Collins up against her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson. What, if anything, is early voting telling us about that race? Well, Jonah, you'll have to forgive me the event between Democratic candidate for Senate Troy Jackson and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, perhaps the most prominent progressive in the country right now besides Bernie Sanders. It just wrapped up here. But I can tell you more than 136,000 people have already voted early in Maine. About half of them are Democrats. And what we have seen as American elections have become more intense is we've seen more and more states push for increased access to the ballot booth. And that really makes a difference for workers, people who work odd hours or may have caregiving commitments. And we heard Jackson say today to supporters, you only have a week left. October 29th is the last day to early vote here in Maine, so get out and do it. And he's doing events like this with prominent progressives to really drum up energy and enthusiasm ahead of the election. Here's what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she plans to do with her Democratic colleagues if Democrats take control of Congress. I'm talking subpoenas. I'm talking investigations. I'm talking, if necessary, and if the evidence leads us there, to court. Because I don't care if you are a criminal on Main Street or a criminal on Pennsylvania Avenue. Everyone must be held to the same standard and rule of law. And we will never get our country back if we allow criminals to have cabinet seats in the United States of America. Meanwhile, Susan Collins calling in very different surrogates, former Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, to campaign with her, really reinforcing that she views herself as a necessary centrist and moderate in the upper chamber. Jonah. Eva, thank you. Well, President Trump has been on a seven-state campaign blitz as he fights to push Republicans over the line. His last stop was in South Carolina on Wednesday, rallying support for Senate Republican Darlene Graham, the sister of late Senator Lindsey Graham, who died in July. He was interrupted by protesters for the second day in a row. Thirteen days from now, the people of South Carolina are going to elect Darlene Graham to the United States Senate Protesters, it's unbelievable. Unbelievable. They'll do whatever they can to win. Who's the guy that threw that punch? Who threw that punch? Well, Tanya Noory is in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for us the second time in a single week that Donald Trump has been heckled in North Carolina. Tanya, and we're sticking with the theme of early voting, early voting surging there as well. Do we see in these two things a sort of confluence pointing to momentum for the Democrats? Well, a campaign blitz is right for President Donald Trump. He is really putting it all on the line. In South Carolina last night, he has campaigned in North Carolina twice. He said he's expected to come back to North Carolina for a third time, which is significant because there is a key Senate race here. And so as of now, over 1.1 million people in North Carolina have cast an early ballot. That is a 38 percent increase. But when you break it down, the Democrats are the ones who are favoring those numbers. It's a 43 percent of them were Democrats, 22.5 percent Republicans and 34 percent unaffiliated voters. And so we'll see if President Trump's message is effective after all votes have been cast. But ultimately, what I'm hearing here in North Carolina is that voters are very focused on affordability, and many of them are blaming it on the war in Iran. So that's why we are here at Fort Bragg today, which is one of the largest military installations in the United States and also in the world. It's a massive military installation, and we wanted to speak with this community to see how they feel about the war and the rising prices, rising gas prices, grocery prices. And this is a community that's very weaved into the people that are currently serving in the war in Iran. So take a listen to what they had to say. President Donald Trump says he has no regrets taking the United States to war with Iran. It's one of the greatest things we've done. We've stopped Iran from having a nuclear weapon. It's one of the best things that we've done. But the costs are mounting. 21 American service members have been killed in operations related to Epic Fury. and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are pushing up fuel prices back home. Outside Fort Bragg is a community shaped by military service, and some veterans are questioning not just how the war is being fought, but why. I don't think a war is worth fighting if we're being attacked. If we're not being attacked, I don't think we should be attacking people. He said, I have stopped eight wars. He didn't mention that he always starts wars, too. Another veteran supports regime change in Iran, but says the war is not unfolding as expected. We were under the impression when it first started that it's only going to take two weeks. His disillusionment is turning him away from the ballot box. Traditionally, I've been a conservative, but I'm more or less what I consider independent now. and I'm not sure if I'm going to even vote this time around because I'm so disgusted with what's going on right now. Especially when the consequences are being felt by everyday Americans. When you can't feed your children, you're getting behind on bills, people's cars are being repossessed, houses being repoed, and then you've got a homeless problem here too. I mean, I'm sure everybody knows about it. And it's not just Fayetteville, everywhere is affected. Trump says victory is within reach. But for these veterans, the message is even simpler. Just get the job done. Tanya Nori, Al Jazeera, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Tennessee is another state where early voting is taking place. Matthew Torres is there for us in Nashville. And Matthew, there have been reports of some early voters having issues casting their ballots. What more can you tell us about that? And, Jonah, that's right. We are hearing from voters who say despite voting for one candidate, the ballot machine is defaulting it to another candidate. And one person notably who has really put this on the map, this particular issue, is the late Dolly Parton's sister, who on social media says she tried to vote for the Democratic candidate for the governor's race, but it kept going to her opponent. It was eventually fixed when a poll worker intervened. The state elections office says that they do have steps to be able to mitigate this type of concern or issue and urges people to really look at their ballot at the final step before it is printed to make sure it is corrected. But we still don't know exactly what went wrong. We know here in Tennessee so far since early voting started last week that there has been nearly half a million ballots cast, which is significantly higher compared to 2022. too. And it's not just affordability driving voters to the polls. We've been hearing issues on public safety, education and data centers. It seems like a lot of voters agree on similar issues. It's choosing who should be fixing those problems where we see the biggest difference. Nashville is known for its hot chicken. The employee of this small restaurant, Flint Brown, We have mile tenders. Says whoever wins the midterms needs to do more for small businesses. Small businesses kind of thrive and give the city its culture. Along the busy lower Broadway, Victor Lopez has a different concern. Safety downtown is the most important. I spend a lot of time here. Beyond the lights of downtown, some residents are concerned about big tech changing their quiet community. We want to stay a small town, but also keep up, you know, with what the needs of the people are. There are issues facing the candidates in Tennessee's governor's race. Democrat Jerry Green versus Republican U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, who has the advantage of a deeply red state and support from President Trump. We're going to send Marsha Blackburn to the governor's mansion. Blackburn has remained loyal to Trump. That's enough to send a message to some voters. Do I want the party to view him as he's on the ticket? Sure, so that they know where not to vote. I vote a Democrat. Trump won Tennessee with 64% of the votes in 2024. Despite his low approval ratings, Lopez, a Republican voter, doesn't see the president as a liability or as the one solely to blame for higher prices. I believe the previous administration is largely responsible for that. I think having Trump's support is a good thing. Matthew Torres, Al Jazeera, Nashville, Tennessee. Well, that's it from us. Thanks for watching the Midterms Roundup here on Al Jazeera English. You can catch up, of course, on all our Midterms content on YouTube and the website. That's aljazeera.com. And I'll hand you now back to our global headquarters in Doha. Bye-bye.