Senate Democrats' top super PAC puts $1.2 million behind Scott Colom in Mississippi

The main super PAC working to elect Senate Democrats is putting $1.2 million behind Scott Colom in Mississippi, its first spending of the year in one of the most Republican states in the country. The group, Senate Majority PAC, announced the television campaign on Tuesday. It backs Colom, a district attorney, in his challenge to Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.

The 30-second spot starts airing Wednesday on stations across the state and will run until Election Day on Nov. 3. A digital push will run alongside it. The group is aligned with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

What the ad says

The commercial praises Colom's record as a prosecutor. It describes him as a man devoted to his family and his Christian faith who will take on corruption in both parties. It brands Hyde-Smith a do-nothing senator. The narrator claims she has not passed a single bill in her time in office, voted to cut people from Medicaid and took money from special interests.

A spokesperson for the PAC said the group has watched the contest closely and believes Colom has put Hyde-Smith on the defensive. Colom's campaign manager said thousands of Mississippians have volunteered or donated and that the campaign has the money and momentum to win.

Hyde-Smith's campaign manager pointed out that the money is arriving late in the race. He said the senator's team is confident voters will turn down what he called a radical agenda on Nov. 3.

A tall order in a red state

Mississippi has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1982. President Donald Trump carried the state by about 23 points in 2024. Hyde-Smith was appointed to the seat in 2018 and won a special election later that year. Democrats who think she can be beaten note that she ran about 6 points behind Trump in 2020.

The race has drawn only about $8 million in total ad spending so far. Colom has outspent Hyde-Smith by roughly $4.6 million to $3.2 million, according to an ad tracking firm. The matchup has been set since Colom won his party's primary in March.

Colom would become the first Black senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction, the period after the Civil War. He has drawn national Democrats to the state in the final weeks. Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock campaigned with him last week. Former Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to rally with him on Thursday. Colom has said Hyde-Smith's vote for last year's big tax and spending law, which cut Medicaid funding, pushed him to run.

Democrats reach for deep-red seats

Republicans hold the Senate 53 to 47, so Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control. That means winning in places Trump won easily two years ago. Senate Majority PAC has already announced spending in Kansas, where pastor Adam Hamilton is challenging Republican Sen. Roger Marshall. It is also spending in Alaska, Texas and Iowa.

Mississippi is the most Republican state the group has entered so far. Some Democrats, including Warnock, have argued that national groups have been too slow to put serious money into Southern races.