Michael Chiaradio, an entrepreneur and owner of a small farm in Shubuta, is the Democratic nominee for Mississippi's 3rd District congressional seat, challenging incumbent Republican Michael Guest. Chiaradio, a first-time political candidate, said that as a constituent he was disappointed with Guest rubber stamping the Trump administration agenda, and that when he saw Guest as the only name on his ballot in 2024, he decided he would challenge him. "Who the heck is going to do it if not me,?" Chiaradio said.

Mississippi Today welcomes back Adam Ganucheau to look back on the early days of the newsroom and the origins of The Other Side. Plus, Mary Margaret White joins editor-in-chief Emily Wagster Pettus to look ahead to 10-year anniversary celebrations and what audiences can expect in years to come.

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell has been overseeing the state Highway Patrol, Bureaus of investigations and narcotics, Capitol Police, drivers services, forensic lab and medical examiners, and many other law-enforcement divisions. Before that he was a state Court of Appeals Judge, state senator and a prosecutor on the Coast. He said his experience has prepared him to serve as the next state attorney general.

State and national GOP strategist Henry Barbour runs through likely and confirmed candidates for Mississippi races this year and next, running down the ticket from U.S. Senate, stopping just shy of dog catcher.

Last week, Attorney General Lynn Fitch joined what's shaping up to be a crowded list of candidates running for governor in 2027. Mississippi Today reporters Michael Goldberg and Taylor Vance sit down with Mississippi Today Ideas editor Bobby Harrison to discuss the candidates who have entered the race and the policy ideas emerging in the race so far.

Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, a Republican candidate for governor next year, says he's concerned the proliferation of data centers in Mississippi puts the state at risk and that he's hearing major concerns about data centers and AI from Mississippians as he campaigns across the state. Gipson said data centers and the AI boom are being funded by debt and "circular financing," similar to what happened with other tech before the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s. He said he's also concerned about the "AI impact on humanity," the environment and utility consumers' costs.

Senate Judiciary A Chairman Brice Wiggins has worked for years to reform Mississippi's notoriously opaque youth courts. He sat down with Mississippi Today to discuss why the courts are now somewhat open to the public, what happened during the the recent special legislative session and why having a uniform youth court system is crucial to to the state.

Stuart Stevens for decades was one of the top Republican political strategists and he ran campaigns for dozens of congressional, senatorial, gubernatorial and presidential campaigns. But the Mississippi native left the party over President Trump and says, "There is no Republican party ... it has turned into the pro-tariffs party." Stevens says the GOP these days, "in many ways is to the left of the Democratic Party." The author of the New York Times bestseller "It Was All a Lie" and numerous other books also gives his take on Mississippi's upcoming midterm elections, how Sen. Roger Wicker is doing as armed services chair and even takes a couple of digs at former Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffen.