JACKSON, Miss. (AP) 鈥� is a gregarious prosecutor who grew up in Mississippi with a Republican father who campaigned for Ronald Reagan and counted political titan Thad Cochran as a friend.
That background sounds ideal for a U.S. Senate hopeful in a Deep South state run for generations by white conservatives.
Except Colom is a Democrat. And a Black man.
So, he’s an underdog in his bid to unseat Republican Sen. , a white Donald Trump acolyte seeking her second full term. Yet several variables 鈥� Colom鈥檚 biography, 惭颈蝉蝉颈蝉蝉颈辫辫颈鈥檚 demographics, lingering inflation and Hyde-Smith’s understated profile 鈥� make for a wildcard matchup as Republicans defend their 53-47 Senate majority at the midpoint of Trump’s second presidency.
鈥淢ississippi matters,鈥� Colom insisted throughout a recent day of campaigning.
He told The Associated Press he has a rare opportunity to flip the state’s usual script by casting Hyde-Smith as a rubber stamp while deflecting broadsides that he’s a liberal misfit.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to fight the corruption that we鈥檙e seeing in D.C. that鈥檚 making everything less affordable,鈥� he said, zeroing in on , and the Republican-controlled Congress鈥� capitulation on both. 鈥淥ur junior senator has totally given away our voice. She鈥檚 not worried about us at all.鈥�
Through aides, Hyde-Smith declined an interview. But her campaign manager projected confidence.
鈥淣o one believes in Scott Colom except for Scott Colom,鈥� said Jake Monssen, tagging the challenger as a stooge of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and billionaire donor George Soros, whose family backed Colom’s district attorney races.
Schumer recently held a fundraiser for Colom, and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, Maryland’s first Black senator, traveled to Mississippi to support him as to Senate control. She predicted more senators will follow.
鈥淚 can guarantee you one thing,鈥� Alsobrooks said, “I鈥檓 not the last.鈥�
As they campaigned together, Colom cited a famous biblical long shot while alluding to his state’s history at the vanguard of the Civil Rights Movement.
鈥淲e know a little something about David and Goliath in Mississippi,” he said.
The outcome hinges on 鈥榮imple math鈥�
惭颈蝉蝉颈蝉蝉颈辫辫颈鈥檚 is never far below the surface.
Colom鈥檚 weekend featured a voting rights discussion at Jackson鈥檚 Farish Street Baptist Church, where Medgar Evers, the NAACP leader killed by white supremacists in 1963, held organizing meetings. One of Evers鈥� successors embraced Colom’s candidacy as the next step in a long struggle.
鈥淢ississippi is not just a moral argument,鈥� said state NAACP Executive Director Charles Taylor. 鈥淚t is simple math.鈥�
Black voters make up a larger share of Mississippi’s 2.95 million residents (about 37%) and typical November electorate (about a third) than in any other state. More than 9 out of 10 of them typically vote Democratic but turn out at a lower rate than white voters, especially young generations, according to strategists in both major political parties. White voters opt by a 4-1 ratio or more for Republicans. Younger white voters trend slightly less Republican, but they’re also less likely to vote.
That makes most Mississippi elections closer than in neighboring Alabama and Louisiana. In 2018, Hyde-Smith won a special election runoff over Mike Espy, Mississippi’s first Black congressman since Reconstruction and a former U.S. agriculture secretary, by 7 percentage points. She notched a 10-percentage-point in 2020 but trailed Trump鈥檚 16-percentage-point margin over Democrat Joe Biden.
Three years later, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves managed just a 3-percentage-point reelection margin and finished less than 1 percentage point over the majority threshold that Mississippi law requires to avoid a runoff in statewide general elections.
Taylor said registration and turnout efforts by the NAACP and other groups could draw 75,000 more Black voters, enough to close recent gaps.
Wilbur Colom, who once lost a state treasurer鈥檚 race as a Republican, enjoys gaming out turnout scenarios for his son.
Scott Colom can hit a winning sweet spot, his father said, by increasing Black share of the electorate to 35% and get closer to one out of four white votes rather than the typical 20% or less.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 hard,鈥� Wilbur Colom said. 鈥淏ut demographics are our friend here.鈥�
Scott Colom leans on contrasting records
Colom mostly sidesteps Mississippi history or electoral math unless asked.
鈥淲e鈥檝e made a lot more progress than we get credit for,鈥� he said.
鈥淎 lot of Mississippians,鈥� he added, 鈥渨ant somebody that鈥檚 going to look out for them,鈥� regardless of race.
On Republican gerrymandering after gutted a last key Voting Rights Act provision protecting minority voting strength, Colom steers the conversation to economics. Republicans, Colom said, 鈥渄on’t want to be held accountable鈥� for how things are going.
Asked about Biden tapping him for a federal judgeship only for Hyde-Smith to block the nomination, Colom says the campaign isn’t about that. He avoids personal shots at Trump, instead emphasizing Mississippi farmers harmed by the Republican president鈥檚 tariffs and 鈥�400,000 Mississippians that don鈥檛 have health insurance鈥� because the state hasn鈥檛 expanded Medicaid and Republicans, Hyde-Smith included, let expanded expire.
Colom mentions crime victims and their families in his jurisdiction, promising voters will see them vouch for him. And he criticizes Hyde-Smith for using campaign funds at Las Vegas hotels.
鈥淰oters in Mississippi were promised America first. They were promised lower grocery prices, no more endless wars, concepts of a healthcare plan,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been betrayed on all three fronts, and Cindy Hyde-Smith won鈥檛 even do a town hall to justify any of it.鈥�
Hyde-Smith’s team targets Colom as too liberal
The senator’s aides note that she travels regularly to community events around Mississippi 鈥� and only annually to Las Vegas for a national campaign fundraiser the onetime state agriculture commissioner plans around a professional rodeo event.
Hyde-Smith, in turn, frames Colom as beholden to extremes beyond Mississippi. Monssen said voters will see a challenger trying 鈥渢o transition kids鈥� genders,鈥� raise taxes and give 鈥渉ealthcare to illegal immigrants鈥� to please his 鈥渟ocialist supporters鈥� from the coasts.
It鈥檚 a play-it-safe strategy that presumes Republicans like Steve Rogers, a 73-year-old from Brandon, still make up Mississippi’s majority.
鈥淚 like how she votes, and I think any Democrat鈥檚 wasting their time,鈥� Rogers said. He still gives Trump high marks and hasn’t even heard of Colom. Trump鈥檚 slide 鈥渕ay give her some trouble,鈥� he allows, 鈥渂ut I think she coasts.鈥�
Colom acknowledged financial support from the Soros family but said no candidate controls outside political action committees. He pointed to his prosecution of a Democratic sheriff for sexual abuse of a prisoner as proof that partisanship doesn鈥檛 guide him. Voters, including many who’ve backed Trump and Hyde-Smith, 鈥渁re smart enough,鈥� he said, to 鈥渟ee through the lies.鈥�
Democrat Judy Weiner, a 72-year-old poll worker in Hinds County, added that Hyde-Smith distinguishes herself only by her fealty to Trump, while not establishing a reputation for securing appropriations and helping rank-and-file Mississippians, as did her predecessor Cochran.
鈥淗e made his decisions based on what was good for all the people in Mississippi, not because the president whispered in his ear,鈥� she said, noting Cochran attracted votes from Black and white Democrats.
A little cash could go a long way
The candidates’ campaign accounts and Mississippi’s inexpensive media markets intensify the unknowns.
Through June, Hyde-Smith had raised $3.8 million this cycle, with $2.5 million left. Colom pulled in $2.8 million and had $850,000 remaining. But Colom outpaced Hyde-Smith among individual contributors, $1.9 million to $1.8 million, from the start of 2025. More of his money ($536,000) came from Mississippi than any other state, despite Monssen’s broadsides.
There is no statewide TV advertising yet, but Senate Majority PAC spokeswoman Lauren French said the group is 鈥渨atching closely.鈥� And it doesn’t take seven figures per ad buy to penetrate the electorate, unlike in more populous states like Texas, Georgia and North Carolina. That means that either national party or super PACs could make late investments that matter.
鈥淲e need to be working for every single seat,鈥� said Alsobrooks, the Maryland visitor, 鈥渁nd you know what, it always seems impossible until it鈥檚 done.鈥�
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
