Democrats Pouring Money Into Campaign For Mississippi Senate Seat Party Hasn’t Held Since 1980s

(Screenshot / Rumble / DCNF)

Senate Democrats’ top campaign spending arm planned to spend $1.2 million in deep red Mississippi Tuesday while their candidate performed well in the polls.

The Senate Majority PAC intends to air the new television advertisement in support of Democratic Mississippi Senate nominee Scott Colom ahead of his race against Republican Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, The Associated Press first reported. The ad is set to start Wednesday and air 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,” the PAC’s spokesperson Lauren French said.

A Wedgwood Polls survey found Colom trailing Hyde-Smith 52% to 48%, while other polls found Hyde-Smith leading by single digits. Mississippi last elected a Democratic U.S. senator in November 1982 and both its Senate seats have been controlled by Republicans since 1989.

President Donald Trump won 60.9% of the vote in Mississippi during the 2024 presidential election.

Only $8 million has been spent in the Senate race, with Colom outspending Hyde-Smith nearly $4.6 million to $3.2 million, The Associated Press reported.

Colom campaigned with Democratic Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock and is scheduled to rally with former Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday.

The Democratic candidate centered his campaign around affordability, which is the top issue for voters in the election cycle, according to his campaign website. He is also district attorney for Mississippi’s 16th Judicial District, giving him name recognition.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May that Louisiana’s racially gerrymandered map was unconstitutional, prompting the Mississippi state Legislature considered redistricting to redraw black majority districts. The Mississippi state Legislature initially planned to redraw Mississippi’s lone majority-black district, although Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves canceled a planned special legislative session on redistricting in May after receiving backlash from constituents.

Charles Taylor, executive director of the Mississippi state conference of the NAACP, said rising costs motivated Democratic voters across the state, according to The Washington Post. He highlighted how the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision mobilized black voters.

Thousands of protesters rallied in Jackson to protest the redistricting efforts and mobilized people to vote in November, according to Mississippi Today, a local outlet. Black voters make up roughly 35% of Mississippi’s voting population, according to The Washington Post.

The Senate Majority PAC launched a $5 million television ad campaign in Kansas, a state that has not had a Democratic senator since 1939. It also spent tens of millions in Texas, Iowa, Ohio and Alaska.

Democrats pulled spending from Georgia and North Carolina while Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff and former Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper held comfortable leads.

Republican PACs spent over $326 million to support Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton while he fell behind Democratic Texas Senate nominee James Talarico. It spent $14 million to support Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall and $5 million for Republican South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham.