Scott Colom appears poised to unseat Cindy Hyde-Smith in MS Senate race

Scott Colom appears poised to unseat Cindy Hyde-Smith in MS Senate race

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Mississippi Senate Race Remains Uncalled as Ballots Continue to Tally

As of Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Senate race in Mississippi remains uncalled, though Democrat Scott Colom appears poised to unseat Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith. With ballots still being counted across the state, Colom currently holds a lead of roughly 2,000 votes, bolstered significantly by a massive performance in Hinds County, where he is outpacing his rival by 60 percentage points, according to reporting from Rolling Stone.

If the lead holds, Colom would become the first Democratic senator from Mississippi in more than four decades. His potential victory represents a stunning shift in a state that President Donald Trump won by roughly 20 points in 2024. For much of the cycle, Hyde-Smith was considered the heavy favorite to retain her seat, a dynamic that remained largely unchanged until the final weeks of the campaign.

The Viral Strategy That Changed the Narrative

The race turned into an unexpected battleground late in the cycle, driven by a series of high-engagement social media campaigns. One specific advertisement—a direct response to Hyde-Smith’s comments regarding the rising cost of beef—urged voters to “Pick another senator instead” after the incumbent suggested that shoppers simply choose from other available proteins. Vanity Fair reported that this digital effort, combined with a parody ad titled “Sinators” released on October 30, generated millions of views across platforms like X, Instagram, and Facebook.

The “Sinators” ad, which featured Colom and his twin brother, Andrew, was a playful homage to the film Sinners. While the campaign included a clear disclaimer that the spot was a joke, it underscored a broader strategy of using humor and pop culture to capture attention in a state where Democrats have faced steep electoral hurdles for generations. By the time of the November 3 election, the “Sinators” ad alone had garnered more than 380,000 views on X, as noted by the Sun Herald.

A Long-Standing Political Rivalry

The tension between Colom and Hyde-Smith predates this election cycle. In 2023, Colom was nominated by President Joe Biden for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. That nomination stalled after Hyde-Smith formally blocked the process, citing his record on gender-affirming care legislation and previous political donations. Colom later noted that had his judicial appointment moved forward, he likely would not have resigned from the bench to enter the Senate race.

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - NOVEMBER 03: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom, wearing an "I Voted" sticker
Photo: rollingstone.com

“I think that anybody who can look at the math should be able to know where this is going,” Colom told reporters Wednesday morning. “It’s going to: Scott Colom is the next United States senator. I’m confident in that.”

The race faced additional complications, including the candidacy of Ty Pinkins, the 2024 Democratic Senate nominee who ran as an Independent this fall. According to Rolling Stone, Pinkins siphoned nearly 20,000 votes, a factor that makes Colom’s current lead even more statistically significant. Meanwhile, Hyde-Smith appeared to acknowledge the intensity of the challenge during an election night event, where she boasted to supporters about her previous role in blocking Colom’s judicial nomination.

While former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris both made late appearances in Mississippi to bolster Democratic turnout, the GOP’s Senate Leadership Fund attempted to stabilize the race with an emergency infusion of more than a million dollars. As the final ballots are processed, the outcome will determine if Mississippi sends its first Black senator to Washington since the Reconstruction era.

When asked on Wednesday morning about Hyde-Smith’s earlier, premature celebrations of her own victory, Colom declined to engage in a war of words, offering only a traditional Southern retort: “Bless her heart.”

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