Democratic challenger Scott Colom narrows gap with incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi Senate race
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Colom, a former district attorney, is within a few thousand votes of unseating Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, potentially becoming Mississippi’s first Black senator since Reconstruction.
Sen. Raphael Warnock highlighted the Mississippi Senate contest as a race that could reshape the deep-red state, noting the higher share of Black voters compared with Georgia. Democratic candidate Scott Colom, a seventh-generation Mississippian and former district attorney, has challenged President Donald Trump to a debate and criticized the administration’s handling of the Epstein files and agricultural policies.
Colom’s campaign gained momentum after former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned for him before a crowd of about 1,000 supporters in his hometown. In a local interview, Colom described the moment as “a real special moment” and emphasized the need to address the lack of health insurance for hundreds of thousands of Mississippians and the threat to rural hospitals from pending Medicaid cuts.
If elected, Colom would be the first Black senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction and the first Democrat to hold the seat since 1982, when John Stennis, a segregationist, left office. Current Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who has been criticized for limited visibility during her tenure, trails Colom by a narrow margin as vote counting continues.
Colom’s political background includes service as a municipal court judge, prosecutor, and district attorney for four counties. He was mentored by Rep. Bennie Thompson through the Mississippi Black Leadership Institute and was later nominated by President Joe Biden for a federal judgeship, a nomination blocked by Hyde-Smith.
Democratic leaders, including former Gov. Brandon Presley and consultants James Carville and Patrick Gaspard, have praised Colom’s grassroots strategy, which relies on high Black voter turnout and a significant share of the White vote. The campaign has received financial support from national figures such as Harris, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who contributed over $1.4 million for advertising.
Polling data and campaign finance reports indicate that Democrats have outspent Republicans in the final weeks of the race, spending roughly $9 million to the GOP’s $3.9 million. Colom’s team believes the close race reflects a shift in voter sentiment, with some Democrats describing the outcome as a potential long-term change in Mississippi’s political landscape.