Faith, Democrat Who Defied Long Odds in Mississippi Senate Race Wins Seat After Judgeship Setback
A campaign with little notice
Barely more than a year before his win, Colom was calling potential donors during lunch breaks from his district attorney job. He worked at the kitchen table in his parents’ home, near his own home in northeastern Mississippi.
His mother, Dorothy Colom, recalled that the response to those calls usually followed a familiar pattern. The account describes a campaign that attracted limited attention for much of its run.
Colom defeats Hyde-Smith
Colom, 43, defeated Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Republican incumbent, and became Mississippi’s senator-elect. His victory placed him among Democrats whose unexpected midterm wins shifted the balance of power in Washington.
A past nomination fight
Three years before the Senate race, Hyde-Smith blocked Colom’s nomination to a federal judgeship. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had nominated him, but the move denied Colom a chance at a lifetime appointment. The election therefore set Colom against the same incumbent who had opposed his judicial nomination.
Key points
- Scott Colom defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi’s Senate race.
- Colom is 43 and worked as a district attorney in northeastern Mississippi.
- His victory was among Democrats’ unexpected midterm wins that changed Washington’s balance of power.
- Hyde-Smith had blocked Colom’s federal judgeship nomination three years earlier.