With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, U.S. Senate candidate Ty Pinkins is trying something different. Pinkins, who was the Democratic candidate for Mississippi Secretary of State in 2023 and the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in 2024, is now running as an independent.
During his second Senate run, the Georgetown Law School graduate and veteran Army officer is drawing on the commonalities of people in what he sees as a divisive time for the country.
“We’re so separated right now as a country, with red and blue, Democrat and Republican, conservatives, liberals — we’re so separated,” Pinkins said.
His 2024 Senate campaign led him to believe that people on different sides of the aisle have more in common than it may seem.
“We need independent candidates that can speak to both audiences and, just from my personal experience over the past several months (and) even throughout my previous campaign in 2024, there are a lot of people on both sides of the aisle, both ends of the spectrum, that understand both parties have failed us, right?” Pinkins said. “The Republican Party has failed us. The Democratic Party has failed us. And what I try to communicate to voters, regardless of who they are, is that the only way we get out of this is if we have independents in office in Washington that can hold both parties accountable.”
On Leaving The Democratic Party
Pinkins believes that the Democratic party has failed Mississippians with its lack of recent successes in winning elections, while simultaneously asking for higher voter registrations and turnout from Black voters.
“According to usafacts.org, there are two other states with a higher (voter registration) percentage than Mississippi: Minnesota and Oregon. Minnesota, I think 83%. Oregon, 82%. Mississippi, 81% according to the Kaiser Family Foundation,” Pinkins said. “According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Mississippi ranks number five in voter registration. That totally dismantles the Democratic Party’s argument to Black voters that we just need to register more voters.”
Pinkins also provided research from the Kaiser Family Foundation indicating Mississippi’s voter turnout was 68.9% in the 2024 election cycle — a percentage higher than the national average 65.3% and half of U.S. states.
This voting data has led Pinkins to take issue with Democratic Party tactics and to believe a new strategy will bring greater results.
“My issue is strategy with the Democratic Party, and I think it’s — I don’t want to use the word hypocritical — but I think that there’s something disingenuous about taking into consideration 43 years of loss, a 0-15 record (on Senate races), and telling an entire block of voters of a specific color that you should vote this way again,” Pinkins said.
The Independent Conference
In anticipation of potential success, Pinkins mentioned that he has been collaborating with other independent candidates in the 2026 U.S. Senate cycle in creating the Senate’s first-ever caucus for independents— the “Independent Conference.”
What Pinkins hopes to achieve with this new group is the ability to force senators on either side of the political aisle to agree with certain Senate rules and what he characterizes as “common-sense” legislation, providing gun legislation as an example.
“So now you have to compromise with these four independent veterans on who’s going to have power, right?” Pinkins said. “We want a certain amount of floor time in Congress to talk and to introduce bills. We want a certain number of amendments on any bill that’s passed before Congress. Now we can pass common-sense gun laws.”
For Pinkins, the divisiveness of the current political landscape can be traced back to the two-party system itself. He pointed out multiple times that each party held a trifecta of the Senate, House of Representatives and presidency in the federal government, and yet, in his view, failed to achieve their stated goals.
Pinkins hopes that the work of the Independent Conference will make the Senate more transparent.
“We can force each side to vote without hiding — there’s no, ‘Well, I don’t want to say my name and that I voted for it or I voted against it.’ No, you’ve gotta do this in the open now,” Pinkins said. “They don’t get to kill it in committee.”
Running As An Independent
Successful independent candidates for office are often considered forces in their own right, such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders or former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.
In Pinkins’ view, his service in the Army bolsters his status as an independent candidate.
“I signed up to serve my country for a reason, and that reason really came into full, colorful, magnificent view in the middle of combat, and you start to understand what it means to love something more than you love yourself, what it means to serve,” Pinkins said.
On The Issues
On issues like abortion rights and gun control, Pinkins holds views similar to Democrats.
“I’ve always been kind of a center-left person with regard to policies and issues that voters are concerned about, and I think I’m still center-left with regard to women’s ability to control their own body. I support that,” Pinkins said. “With regard to common-sense gun control, I support that. … With regard to guns, I might be more center-right than I am center-left because I believe in protecting the Second Amendment. I’m a gun owner. … We can pass common-sense legislation like red flag laws or making a law that says if you have a gun in your house, that gun has to be locked up in a safe.”
Pinkins is in line with the Democratic Party’s position on health insurance.
“I believe in expanding Medicaid. I believe in making sure that people have access to quality, affordable health care and lower your prescription (drug prices),” Pinkins said.
On immigration, Pinkins stressed “common-sense” reform.
“I think this may be a center issue now, used to be left or right, but I believe we need common-sense immigration reform,” Pinkins said. “A pathway for people to become citizens but also making sure that people abide by our immigration laws when they do come to this country.”
Addressing students, Pinkins touched on cost of living and safety.
“The economic and social stressors that you guys are going through is incredible. You’re thinking about throughout the day if somebody’s going to shoot up the campus. You’re thinking about, ‘Okay, how am I going to pay this five-digit or six-digit tuition bill that I’m going to have once I graduate?’” Pinkins said. “That’s not fair at all.”
Independent Strategy
Pinkins knows that it is difficult for an independent candidate to win a Senate race, but he thinks a quirk in Mississippi state election law could assist his efforts.
“Mississippi law says, when we get to Nov. 3 and everybody votes, if nobody gets above a 50% threshold, the top two (candidates) have to have a runoff. My strategy is to get to that runoff, and hopefully, if I’m able to communicate well enough to voters in Mississippi in general, and especially Black voters … my goal is to be in that picture,” Pinkins said.
The Star-Spangled Banner
Pinkins sat down for this interview alongside a guitar that he said he has brought to each of his campaign stops.
When he purchased the guitar, Pinkins admits, he did not know how to play it.
“I think I had been in the Army for, at that point in time, 12 or 13 years. … I had been (in Okinawa, Japan) for several months and I found myself walking up a street called Kokusai-dori Street. And I stepped into a guitar shop and, spur of the moment, I said, ‘That is my guitar,’” Pinkins said. “This guitar has followed me all over the world, 21 different countries, all over the states and I never learned to play it.”
What inspired Pinkins to eventually begin learning the guitar is a song that relates to an idea he said is central to his campaign: “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“Two weeks ago, I found the song that I wanted to learn, and I taught myself to play it. Now I play it wherever I go … because I think that’s a song that can connect us in the times that we’re in right now,” Pinkins said. “When I get the chance, I’ll play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ to open events.”
Prepping for Primaries: This story is part of a series featuring candidates for the 2026 Senate election in Mississippi. As an independent, Pinkins will not participate in a party primary and will head straight to the general election in November 2026. Interviews with other candidates will be featured in future editions.
