Senate Democrats Target Mississippi in Bold Midterm Push
Senate Democrats launch their first Mississippi ad in the 2026 midterms, backing Scott Colom against GOP Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in a deep-red state.
POLICY WIRE — Washington, United States — Senate Democrats’ principal campaign spending arm is plunging into Mississippi’s high-stakes U.S. Senate contest for the first time this cycle, executing an assertive maneuver in a reliably conservative stronghold as Republicans move to safeguard their narrow majority.
Backed by Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate Majority PAC is funneling $1.2 million into a television spot designed to elevate district attorney Scott Colom in his challenge against incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. The commercial, revealed exclusively to media outlets ahead of its statewide rollout, launches Wednesday and will continue airing through Election Day.
Senate Majority PAC has been watching this race closely, and it is clear Colom is running a competitive race that has put Hyde-Smith on her heels, group spokesperson Lauren French noted in an official statement.
With merely two weeks remaining until the conclusion of the contest, the precise impact of the ad remains to be seen in a matchup established when Colom secured victory in the March primary. Nevertheless, the capital infusion represents a major financial commitment within a race that has accumulated roughly $8 million in aggregate spending, with AdImpact figures showing Colom outpacing Hyde-Smith with $4.6 million spent compared to her $3.2 million.
Hyde-Smith, who was initially appointed before winning election in 2018, seeks another term representing a constituency historically dominated by the GOP. Donald Trump carried Mississippi by nearly 23 percentage points over Democrat Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential race, and no Democrat has claimed a Senate seat in the state since 1982.
Despite those historical margins, certain Democrats contend Hyde-Smith exhibits vulnerabilities, noting she lagged behind Trump by 6 percentage points in 2020, the year the former president fell short in his White House reelection bid against Joe Biden.
The newly unveiled television spot highlights Colom’s professional background as a prosecutor while characterizing Hyde-Smith as an ineffective lawmaker. A decade in power, Hyde-Smith hasn’t passed one piece of legislation, but she did vote to kick people off Medicaid, a narrator declares in the broadcast spot, which will appear across television broadcasts alongside a complementary digital outreach effort.
Representatives for Hyde-Smith’s campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee did not immediately reply to requests for feedback regarding the ad.
Colom’s candidacy has energized Democratic aspirations during an election cycle where broader political momentum appears favorable to the party. Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock recently traveled to the state to campaign alongside Colom, and former Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to participate in a joint rally with the candidate on Thursday.
Republicans presently maintain a 53-47 advantage in the upper chamber and initially anticipated a more favorable electoral map with fewer defensive holdings. However, persistent economic pressures, high fuel costs, and public frustration over an unpopular war in Iran under a Republican administration have injected optimism into Democratic strategy, prompting the Senate Majority PAC to direct closing-week funds toward deeply conservative regions. The organization previously signaled investments in Kansas, where Democratic nominee and megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton is mounting a challenge against Republican Sen. Roger Marshall.
Should Colom secure victory, he would become Mississippi’s first Black senator since Reconstruction, the twelve-year era following the U.S. Civil War marked by the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.
Some Democratic voices have previously voiced frustration with national committees for declining to allocate heavier resources to Southern battlegrounds such as Mississippi. I worry, to be very honest, that Democrats are missing a real opportunity to invest in a serious and sustained way in the South, Warnock stated during a Sunday appearance on national television.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
