Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi is being challenged by Democrat Ty Pinkins

JACKSON, Miss. – Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi is trying to extend his 30-year career on Capitol Hill as he faces Democrat Ty Pinkins, a challenger who received little financial support from his own party in a heavily Republican state.

Wicker, now 73, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 from a northern Mississippi district and was appointed to the Senate in 2007 by then-Gov. Haley Barbour following the resignation of Republican Trent Lott.

Wicker is an attorney who served in the Mississippi State Senate before moving to Washington. He is the highest-ranking member of the Armed Services Committee and has advocated for expanding shipbuilding for the military. He was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Pinkins, 50, is a lawyer who ran for Mississippi secretary of state in 2023. He said he wanted to fight poverty and improve access to health care.

Pinkins and Wicker expressed clear disagreements about abortion rights. Wicker praised the Supreme Court for overturning its 1973 ruling that legalized abortion access nationwide, while Pinkins criticized the court's 2022 decision.

“As the Biden administration continues to pursue its pro-abortion agenda, pro-life advocates will continue to do what we have always done: work through our legislative and legal systems to promote a culture of life,” Wicker said.

Pinkins said that because it was “biologically impossible” for him to get pregnant, “I'm not qualified to tell a woman what to do with her body.”

“It's between her, her God and her doctor – and if she wants, she'll let me or a man be part of that decision-making process,” Pinkins said. “Whether you're a pro-life or a pro-choice woman, I support you – making that pro-life decision for yourself and that pro-choice decision for yourself.”

Mississippi's last Democrat in the U.S. Senate was John C. Stennis, whose last term ended in January 1989.

Republicans control all statewide offices in Mississippi, three of the state's four U.S. House seats and the majority of the state's legislative seats.