Ty Pinkins

Ty Pinkins is an author, attorney, and retired U.S. Army officer running as an Independent for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi. Born and raised in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, the son of a tractor driver, he grew up chopping cotton and became the first in his family to graduate high school and attend college. After attending Tougaloo College, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served 21 years on active duty (1996–2017), including three combat tours in Iraq and earning the Bronze Star, later serving as a communications aide to both Republican and Democratic presidents at the White House. He earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Maryland and a J.D. and LL.M. in National Security Law from Georgetown University Law Center. He returned to Mississippi and practiced as a public-interest attorney for free in underserved Delta communities, co-founded The Pyramid Project nonprofit, and successfully sued state officials over gerrymandered state Supreme Court districts. He previously ran for U.S. Senate in 2024 and for Mississippi Secretary of State in 2023 as a Democrat before leaving the party in 2025 to run as an Independent. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and Mount Herald Missionary Baptist Church.