I woke up Wednesday morning and immediately checked to see if Lauren Boebert had officially lost her House race. Instead, I discovered even better news: Democrat Scott Colom had a small but significant lead against living Confederate monument Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, the state whose historic racism made Nina Simone exclaim “goddam!”
Colom’s lead slowly grew over the day, but it could take another week for an official call as provisional ballots are counted.
Mississippi wasn’t on anyone’s immediate radar as a possible Democratic flip, but perhaps it should have been. Mississippi has the highest percentage of Black residents in the nation. This was precisely why so many racially targeted voter suppression laws were passed in the deep South. Republicans can’t simply rely on dominating the white vote. In this year’s Senate race, Black voters accounted for 30 percent of the electorate, and turnout overall was almost at a presidential level. We’ve witnessed this across the South, as Black people were particularly pissed off when the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act and Republicans eagerly moved to minimize their voting power. Colom carried 97 percent of Black voters in the state. That’s Obama-level performance and without Michelle! Regardless of outcome, Colom has awakened a sleeping giant: GOP dominance in the former Jim Crow South has required convincing a significant segment of the population that their votes don’t matter. So, why stand in line for hours at the one polling place in 50 miles to cast a performative vote in a race that’ll get called as soon as the polls close? We can now bury this defeatist attitude. Sen. Raphael Warnock from Georgia posted on social media: “Look at the margin in Mississippi. This race will come down to a literal handful of votes. Don’t let anyone ever tell you your vote doesn’t count.”
Colom ran an amazing campaign, where he leaned into a broad message of unity, even in this former Confederate state. Colom worked the line at a MAGA rally, introducing himself and listening to the people gathered. This might’ve seemed a fool’s errand, but it reinforced Colom’s own view of the race: It wasn’t just about convincing Democratic-leaning voters to show up in large numbers. It was also about persuading unlikely supporters to either back him or at least not vote for Hyde-Smith again. This charm offensive worked: On Wednesday, Colom was beating Hyde-Smith two to one in vote drops from counties Trump had collectively won by 23.5 points in 2024.
Colom’s viral ad attacking Hyde-Smith’s comic cluelessness was particularly brilliant. During an interview back in February, Hyde-Smith was asked what she planned to do about rising food costs, as her constituents require food to live.
“The price of food is high,” WLOX host Hugh Keeton said. “We just did a story this week on the price of beef continuing to go up. What are Republicans doing to get the cost of living under control?”
Hyde-Smith offered some gibberish about Donald Trump’s terrible “one big beautiful bill.” Then this genius who’s on the Senate Agriculture Committee said that if her constituents can’t afford beef, they still have “so many proteins to choose from.”
“Mississippi families aren’t choosing between beef and other proteins as a lifestyle preference,” Colom responded. “They’re stretching every dollar to put food on the table. Meanwhile, Cindy Hyde-Smith sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee, and her answer to Mississippians struggling at the grocery store is to just eat something else? That’s an insult to the people who sent her to D.C. Mississippi deserves a senator who fights for lower costs, not one who tells you your grocery list is your problem.”
Last month, Colom posted the “pick another protein” ad on social media, with the caption “She done lost her damn mind.” The ad featured Hyde-Smith’s idiotic remark followed by Mississippians declaring with disgust, “Pick another protein? I’d rather pick another senator.”
Colom reposted the spot on Wednesday with shout outs to the staff members who were responsible: “Important people know the backstory of this ad. @patrickgaspard gave me the idea to take her inexcusable gaffe and do something edgy with it that could get attention. My content creator, @RyanSayles_ directed and edited it. He should be considered the breakout-star of this cycle. He’s going to be a giant in the media consultant game. He did GAME CHANGING work with SO little.”
He’s a class act. (Watch the original below.)
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This Sinners-inspired spot is also hilarious.
Born in Columbus Mississippi on Christmas Eve 1982, Colom had built a distinguished legal career in his home state. He was elected district attorney for the 16th Judicial District of Mississippi in 2015 — the first Black elected district attorney for the 16th Circuit and the first Black elected district attorney to a majority-white voting district in Mississippi history. He’s achieved an impressive jury trial conviction rate of 95 percent, which includes significant cases involving murder and sexual assault.
In 2023, President Joe Biden nominated Colom to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Sen. Roger Wicker returned his “blue slip” for the nomination, but Hyde-Smith didn’t. (Yeah, the Democratic Senate majority was still fooling around with “blue slips. Alas, Dick Durbin had advanced Senate Brain.)
Hyde-Smith’s stated reasons for opposing Colom’s nomination were lies built on stupid: She claimed that he’d received money from a George Soros-funded political action committee, which is not a crime, and that he supported letting transgender students participate in girls’ and women’s sports.
Colom wrote a letter to Hyde-Smith, asking her to reconsider. He explained that he had not requested money from the PAC and hadn’t received any money from the PAC during his 2019 re-election campaign. As for Hyde-Smith’s anti-trans nonsense, Colom had never actually taken a position on the trans sports issue, but he had signed onto a letter, along with other district attorneys, that condemned the criminalization of gender-affirming surgery. Hyde-Smith never returned the “blue slip,” effectively blocking his nomination. This should’ve been sufficient grounds for Durbin to ignore the “blue slip” rule, which is not even a real rule, but then norms-loving Joe Manchin probably would’ve still tanked the nomination.
However, we can savor the delicious irony that Hyde-Smith’s petty bigotry paved the way for Colom to run against her in 2026. Now, there’s a good chance Colom will become the first elected Black Senator from Mississippi since Hiram Rhodes Revels, who served from 1870 to 1871. Blanche K. Bruce, who served a single term from 1875 to 1881, was Mississippi’s last Black senator.
Mississippi sent Jefferson Davis to the Senate, and so it’s fitting that Colom could replace his ideological descendent.
thank you for the backstory between Colom and Hyde-White. Colom is another of this year's excellent candidates, with a great story and political temperament, and as you say a class act. too fitting if Hyde-White exits the stage (probably on the wrong side) because of a man whose appointment she scuttled without a thought—perhaps her default state.
I knew that about Hyde-Smith blocking Colom's nomination to the US District Court, but not that Jeff Davis was a senator from Mississippi. Oh, the ironies abound with this election! Finally, the South is moving in the right direction. Cry more in Hell, Jeff Davis!