Cindy Hyde-Smith is the first woman elected to represent Mississippi in Congress. A Brookhaven native from a fifth-generation farming family, she served three terms in the Mississippi State Senate (2000-2012, initially as a Democrat before switching to Republican in 2010), then served as Mississippi's Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner (2012-2018) before being appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2018 by Gov. Phil Bryant to replace retiring Sen. Thad Cochran. She won a special election in 2018 and a full term in 2020, defeating Democrat Mike Espy both times. She serves on the Appropriations Committee (including as Chair of the Transportation/HUD subcommittee), Agriculture Committee, Energy Committee, and Rules Committee.
Born and raised in Brookhaven, Mississippi, in a fifth-generation family that raises beef cattle and operates a local stockyard auction market. She is a lifelong Mississippi resident with deep community and agricultural ties. Her political career began in the Mississippi State Senate in 2000, where she initially ran as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party in 2010, citing conservative values (pro-life, pro-family, pro-business, pro-Second Amendment). She served six years as Agriculture Commissioner before her 2018 Senate appointment.