The U.S. Senate race in Mississippi will be a closely watched one in four days. Republican, Cindy Hyde-Smith was appointed in 2018 and later won the special election for the seat. Her Democratic challenger, Mike Epsy, is back on the ballot after losing in the 2018 runoff.
In this “Raise the Rural Vote” segment, Hyde-Smith explains how she hopes to support rural communities and farmers.
During her first two years in office, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith had the opportunity to work on the 2018 Farm Bill. She says that farmers want less regulatory burdens in the 2023 legislation, plus more support for the programs that work well.
According to the Senator, “We had several programs in there that we certainly want to keep in there that were very beneficial. The Price Loss Coverage was very critical during that time, and the federal crop insurance, everything that’s in there we want to make sure that we still get the full benefit from that.”
She also says that it is important to create a level playing field for farmers and applauds President Donald Trump’s work on trade negotiations.
“When he takes on these unfair trade practices and he is not afraid to put tariffs out there and he walks side by side with us, hand in hand in helping make that happen, and it’s been going on for so many years that we almost got use to the unfair trading practices,” she states. “Then when you have somebody step in that is so good at what he does and to help us distinguish the things that needed to be done, but has the boldness to step out and do it, that’s helped American farmers more than anything I can think of.”
Late last week, USDA announced a fourth round of USDA’s Farmers-to-Families Food Box Program, with an additional $500 million dollar investment.
Senator Hyde-Smith says that she personally volunteered to distribute boxes in her community: “The family food boxes that was a real success, I mean bridging that gap and getting families the food that they needed.... I know my church did it, and I was out there one morning and we were taking it to everybody in the community, and we had a big help in setting it up throughout Mississippi.”
She says that she is working to bring broadband to rural communities, where people are proud of their way of life.
“We are so privileged to be able to live in rural areas, we may not have internet out there, right now, but the quality of life is amazing, and we’re getting the broadband there,” she states. “So, we’re just enhancing on the things that we know that we can make a living at and enjoy that life, and my support for rural America will never change because that is exactly who I am.”
Senator Hyde-Smith is a former Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and currently holds a seat on the Senate Ag Committee, as well as Appropriations.
For the full interview click HERE.
For more election coverage click HERE.