Did Scott Colom win in Mississippi? On Nov. 3, voters could decide whether the 43-year-old district attorney from Columbus becomes the state’s first Black U.S. senator in modern history. One poll shows him 4 points behind Cindy Hyde-Smith as the race entered its final stretch.
More than 56,000 absentee ballots had already been cast, twice as many as in 2022. That early turnout matters because Hyde-Smith is the incumbent Republican in the Mississippi Senate race, Colom is the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, and Ty Pinkins is running as an independent.
Pauline Rogers in Vancleave
Pauline Rogers said she supports Colom. She said she registered to vote in rural Vancleave and still owns the little green books clerks used to keep records in when she registered.
“There were clerks that actually kept records in these little green books that I still own today,” Rogers said. She also recalled what people were told about registering: “You're 18 tomorrow. You need to go to the courthouse and register to vote.”
Rogers said she usually votes on issues, but sometimes race outweighs everything else. “These people don't wear shoes or we're backwards,” she said, describing the kind of rhetoric people have heard about Mississippi. She added: “It's about changing the narrative of the reality of what it's actually like to live in Mississippi. People need to see us in a different light.”
Cindy Hyde-Smith in Corinth
Donald Trump campaigned for Hyde-Smith in Corinth, and some residents have urged Pinkins to drop out, arguing that he is trying to split the vote. Pinkins rejected that argument. “We live in a country where everyone has the freedom to speak their voice, to say what they mean, and that freedom to speak is on steroids in an election campaign,” he said.
Rogers said she does not separate Hyde-Smith from her racist remarks. “I don't look at it from a negative perspective,” Pinkins said in response to that line of criticism, though he remained in the race as the three-candidate contest narrowed around the final vote.
Nov. 3 ballot count
The race has shifted from what was expected to be an easy Republican win into a close contest. Colom’s campaign has centered on whether Mississippi voters will send the state its first Black U.S. senator in modern history, while the turnout figure suggests the electorate was already engaged before Election Day.
Voters will settle the race on Nov. 3, with Hyde-Smith, Colom and Pinkins still on the ballot. If Colom closes the 4-point gap, Mississippi could make that history; if not, Hyde-Smith keeps the seat and the question ends at the ballot box.
