Democrat Scott Colom is suddenly in the spotlight as he stands on the verge of becoming the first African American elected to the Senate from Mississippi since Reconstruction. But he’s been drawing attention from a handful of other Democrats behind the scenes for months.
The slow buildup of momentum allowed him to find his footing before the race started getting intense, Colom said in an interview two weeks before the election. He pulled more than 1,700 votes ahead of Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith on Thursday afternoon, with a few thousand outstanding votes still to be counted.
Colom announced his Senate bid in September 2025. One of the first outsiders to extend a hand, Colom said, came out of the blue: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island).
“He was looking at the map — he told me this — he was like, oh, who’s interesting out there who’s not getting any attention?” Colom said. “He was like, Mississippi could be interesting.”
Whitehouse — whose office did not immediately respond to a request for comment — traveled to Mississippi late last year and got to know Colom, the candidate said. They talked about issues, particularly how insurance markets (a pet concern of Whitehouse’s) can be affected by hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.
The pair went down to the Gulf Coast and talked to some insurance agents to learn more about that subject, Colom said. And Colom asked Whitehouse for friendly advice about running for office.
“It was really, truly helpful, and we had such a good time. He really started fighting for me,” Colom said.
Later, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) began calling, and Colom came to rely on him for long-distance advice. “Whitehouse and Warnock were my first two people that really believed in me,” Colom said.
Warnock, the first Black Democrat elected to the Senate in the South, advised him to keep his head down, make a lot of calls to round up support and find a communications strategy. “Keep trying to figure out your message,” Colom recalled the Georgia senator telling him. “You’re getting the benefit of seeing people react without the press there, right? You know, so if it doesn’t land well, nobody knows that it didn’t land well.”
Colom eventually wound up with a campaign message that resonated on social media beyond Mississippi. After Hyde-Smith dismissed the high cost of beef in a local TV interview by saying that Mississippians could pick another protein, Colom seized on “pick another senator” as a slogan in widely seen digital campaign ads.
He released a Halloween video in which he and his twin brother acted out a politically themed satire of the movie “Sinners” (with a Hyde-Smith stand-in appearing as a vampire). He even worked the line outside a rally that President Donald Trump held for Hyde-Smith, shaking hands and laughing with the president’s supporters on social media.
“I’m pretty confident of what works, because I got a whole lot of practice of what don’t work,” Colom said.
Warnock and Whitehouse also helped him raise money at a difficult time when he was unknown. People would say, “I only called you back because Warnock called me,” Colom said. “And so he’s been a real champion.”
Gradually, other Black senators began trekking to Mississippi: Angela Alsobrooks (D-Maryland), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Delaware), Cory Booker (D-New Jersey). Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) was another early supporter. Warnock finally appeared in person at a rally in October.
“Tim Scott is on his way,” Colom said with a big laugh, referring to the South Carolina Republican, who is Black, and who led the campaign to protect the Senate GOP majority. “I’m going to get him down, too. It won’t be for me, though!”
(Scott had warned Hyde-Smith and other incumbents against complacency.)
Back in March, after Colom won Mississippi’s Democratic primary, he got a call from former vice president Kamala Harris. Colom was with his mother at the time and, knowing it would be a thrill, asked Harris if he could give her the phone. “They end up doing all the talking,” Colom said. “And so when I got the phone back, she’s just like: ‘I’m really proud of you. Keep doing what you’re doing.’”
A few months later, Harris called again. By now, Colom was registering on the national radar. As Democrats surged nationwide, there was some thought that even Mississippi could be on the party’s map.
When Harris called this time, Colom was with his wife, who was exhausted after a tough day juggling work, campaign and family. So Colom asked Harris to speak with her, and he never got the phone back.
After they hung up, Colom’s wife said she thought they could get Harris to visit the state. He figured it was worth a try.
A few weeks later, Harris rallied with Colom in his hometown, Columbus, one of the first such campaign events she headlined since losing the presidential election in 2024. They stood together onstage at the high school where Colom had graduated.
By then the floodgates were opening. Other major Democrats made the trek to Mississippi, including former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg and former president Bill Clinton.
Notably missing as Colom listed off his supporters during the interview: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), who led the broad efforts to win a Democratic Senate majority. Schumer had floated Mississippi as a potential pickup earlier in the year, but the Democrats’ main super PAC for Senate candidates didn’t start spending on the race until the end of October.
This week, Schumer sent support in the form of staffers and lawyers to help monitor the final counting of votes that could put Colom over the top.
The post Colom could make history in Mississippi. These Democrats were early believers. appeared first on Washington Post.
