Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), a cattle farmer and former state agriculture commissioner, has a generally clean self-dealing profile across most metrics. Public trade trackers and disclosures show essentially no active individual-stock trading (her only named individual holding is legacy CenturyLink/Lumen stock), and her wealth is dominated by pre-office farm and livestock assets with no documented growth beyond market and salary. Her clearest accountability flag is campaign spending: a 2026 GOP primary opponent and FEC records highlight repeated Las Vegas hotel disbursements (including $9,104.93 at MGM Grand) characterized as luxury travel, though her campaign defends them as legitimate joint fundraisers and no FEC complaint or ethics finding has been adjudicated. Agribusiness donor concentration aligns with her Agriculture Committee seat (correlation, not proof), and her vote-attendance record (2.9% missed) is on par with the Senate median.
Public record
In Congress since
2018
Committees
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Appropriations Energy and Natural Resources Rules and Administration Joint Committee of Congress on the Library
Missed votes, 119th Congress
1.9% (17 of 915; median member 1.9%)
Campaign money, 2025–26 cycle
$3.8M raised · 29% from PACs & committees · $2.5M cash on hand FEC ↗
The stock-trading ban
Senate cloture on H.R. 7008, Sep 30, 2026
Yes
Cosponsored a ban bill
None
H.R. 7008 bans new stock purchases by members, spouses and dependents; it doesn't force sales of existing holdings. The Senate vote was on the version paired with the SAVE Act, which is why no Democrat voted yes. Full breakdown →
Disclosed stock trades
No periodic transaction reports on file since 2024. That's the norm: most members don't trade individual stocks, or hold them in blind trusts and diversified funds.
Amounts are the ranges members must report, not exact values. The STOCK Act requires a report within 45 days of a trade; "late" counts days past that deadline, measured to the filing date.
How the score breaks down
Stock self-trading
25% weight
8
No evidence of active individual-stock trading. Congressional trade trackers (Quiver, MarketBeat) show no populated PTR records. Her only disclosed individual equity is legacy CenturyLink/Lumen stock held (not actively traded); remaining assets are annuities, IRAs, and mutual funds. No volume, no committee-timed trades.
OpenSecrets estimated ~$4.18M net worth in 2018 (her first year), ranking 33rd in Senate; later disclosure ranges are wide ($144K-$1.65M reported value in 2023 filing). Wealth is dominated by her pre-office cattle farm and Lincoln County Livestock stockyard. No documented post-2018 growth beyond market/salary; pre-office wealth is not scored.
Money → action alignmentcorrelation, not proof of any quid-pro-quo
20% weight
40
Correlation, not proof. Hyde-Smith sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee and is a self-described leading voice for agribusiness; agribusiness/crop-production interests are among her notable donor industries, and she secured agricultural relief funding (American Relief Act, 2025). Donor-sector and legislative alignment is real but no quid-pro-quo evidence; AIPAC and NRSC also among top recent contributors.
FEC records show repeated Las Vegas hotel disbursements, including $9,104.93 at MGM Grand (Dec 22, 2023, coded 'travel') and ~a dozen Vegas trips (Venetian, MGM Grand) flagged by GOP primary challenger Sarah Adlakha as luxury/personal travel with family. Campaign says these are an annual joint-Senator fundraiser tied to the rodeo. Allegation-stage only; no FEC complaint ruling or ethics finding documented.
Husband Michael Smith co-owns Lincoln County Livestock (local stockyard) and the family cattle farm — pre-existing businesses, no documented lobbying or federal contracts tied to her office. Hyde-Smith herself worked as a lobbyist before her political career (pre-Senate, not in-office self-dealing). No documented staff-to-lobbyist pipeline found.
Missed 98 of 3,399 roll-call votes (2.9%) from April 2018 to June 2026, on par with the 2.8% median of currently serving senators. No evidence of paid speeches or fundraising-driven absenteeism; Las Vegas fundraising travel is captured under campaign personal-use rather than job neglect.
Sources behind this score: 3 data aggregator · 3 reference database · 1 official record · 3 news reporting. Score = weighted average of the components that have data; the 0 without sourced evidence are excluded, never counted against the member. Methodology →
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