Cindy Hyde-Smith
R · U.S. Senate, Mississippi · Tier 1/2
Tier 1/2, between “Firmly pro-Israel” and “Mainstream pro-Israel”
A firm, unqualified pro-Israel Republican: her campaign site says she stands with Israel as an oasis of freedom and a strong ally, she affirmed strong support after Oct 7, cosponsored a bill to repeal Biden’s pause on arms to Israel and the Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act, and voted NO on the Sanders arms-disapproval resolutions. About $164,000 reached her campaign through AIPAC’s PAC (direct and earmarked) in the July–September 2025 quarter alone, by FEC filings. Trump-endorsed for reelection, she won the March 10, 2026 Republican primary with 81% and faces Democrat Scott Colom and independent Ty Pinkins in November. She signed the May 2024 letter of 34 Republican senators, led by Katie Britt and Joni Ernst, opposing a reported plan to admit Gazan refugees.
A 1/2, not a clean 1. Hyde-Smith has voted against every resolution to block an arms sale to Israel, from the November 2024 tank-round, mortar and bomb-kit sales to the April 2026 bulldozer and bomb sales, and against the September 2026 resolution seeking a human-rights report on Israel. She joined Tom Cotton in introducing his May 2024 bill to force delivery of the weapons Biden had paused, saying Biden was “turning his back on our Israeli allies”; was an original cosponsor of Jim Risch’s 2021 bill to halt U.S. funding for UNRWA pending reforms; and signed the May 2024 letter of 34 Republican senators opposing the admission of Gazan refugees. For the 2026 cycle, $223,032 reached her through AIPAC’s PAC (direct and earmarked). But each of these measures was written by someone else, she leads no Israel caucus or pro-Israel effort, and where Palestinian civilians appear in her record, in a November 2023 letter of 34 senators she signed, the worry is that Hamas’s diversion of aid “deprives innocent Palestinian civilians of crucial assistance,” with the blame on Hamas. Counter-case: a 1 if her seat on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, whose bill carries Israel’s missile-defense funding, counts as writing Israel’s military aid; she holds it as a member, not chair.
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elect26 places 2026 midterm candidates on a six-tier spectrum, from 1 (most pro-Israel) to 6 (most critical of Israel).