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Democrat Scott Colom Challenges Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi Senate Race
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Scott Colom challenges Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith for Mississippi U.S. Senate seat. Senate Majority PAC launches a $1.2 million ad campaign in Mississippi to aid Colom.
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Colom Challenges Hyde-Smith
Democrat Scott Colom, a 43-year-old local district attorney, is seeking to win a U.S. Senate seat in Mississippi by trying to topple Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in a state that has not sent a Democrat to the chamber in nearly four decades.
President Donald Trump won Mississippi two years ago by 23 points, and Colom told CNN, "I think the country has been conditioned to write off Mississippi when it comes to politics."
Colom’s campaign has drawn high-profile Democratic support, with Former Vice President Kamala Harris set to join him on the trail Thursday and President Barack Obama cutting an endorsement ad for him last week.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s aligned super PAC announced it would spend $1.2 million on an ad campaign to aid Colom, and Colom said, "I’m glad the country is starting to pay attention because the reality is Mississippi’s not a lost cause."
Black Voting Power
Charles Taylor, executive director of the Mississippi NAACP, said Colom will need huge turnout among Mississippi’s Black populace, combined with about 25% of the White vote. The CNN story tied that turnout math to Black representation in Congress, saying the Supreme Court gutted what remained of the power to bring claims of racial discrimination under the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
In Alabama, Shomari Figures said Black voters still make up a substantial share of the electorate, roughly 40%, of his new district, down from 47% under the old lines. Figures told CNN that, "We still have some of those people that were around for those fights and certainly have a lot of their children and grandchildren that still have that same spirit."
Super PAC Spending
Senate Majority PAC, aligned with Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, will spend $1.2 million on a new television advertisement to boost Scott Colom, and PBS reported the ad is set to start Wednesday and run through Election Day. PBS quoted Senate Majority PAC spokesperson Lauren French saying, "Senate Majority PAC has been watching this race closely, and it is clear Colom is running a competitive race that has put Hyde-Smith on her heels."
The Hill reported that Senate Majority PAC announced Tuesday it will spend the money on television and digital ads through Election Day supporting Scott Colom, and it said the super PAC’s first 30-second ad focuses on Colom’s work as a district attorney. Hyde-Smith’s campaign spokesperson Nathan Calvert told Politico, "Team Cindy is confident that voters will reject this radical agenda at the ballot box on November 3rd," as the race heads toward the vote date named in the statement.