Cindy Hyde-Smith is the junior United States Senator from Mississippi, having served in the Senate since 2018 when she was appointed by Governor Phil Bryant to fill the seat vacated by Thad Cochran. A member of the Republican Party, she was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, in 1959 and earned her degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. Before her Senate appointment, she served two terms as Mississippi's commissioner of agriculture and commerce and two terms in the Mississippi State Senate. Upon her appointment she became the first woman ever elected to Congress from Mississippi, winning a special election in 2018 and a full term in 2020.
Hyde-Smith serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. Her background as agriculture commissioner has deeply informed her work on farm policy, rural development, and food and nutrition programs. She has been a consistent conservative voice and a supporter of the state's agricultural industries, including catfish farming, poultry, and cotton production. She also serves on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which oversees federal elections and the operations of Congress.