JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Scott Colom is a gregarious prosecutor who grew up in Mississippi with a Republican father who campaigned for Ronald Reagan and counted political titan Thad Cochran as a friend.That background sounds ideal for a U.S. Senate hopeful in a Deep South state run for generations by white conservatives.Except Colom is a Democrat. And a Black man.So, the 43-year-old is an underdog in his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a white Donald Trump acolyte seeking her second full term. Yet several variables — Colom’s biography, Mississippi’s demographics, lingering inflation and Hyde-Smith’s understated profile — make for a wildcard matchup as Republicans defend their Senate majority at the midpoint of Trump’s second presidency. “Mississippi matters,” Colom insisted throughout a nearly 12-hour campaign schedule Aug. 1.
He told The Associated Press he has a rare opportunity to flip the state’s usual script by casting Hyde-Smith as a rubber stamp while deflecting broadsides that he’s out of step. “I’m going to fight the corruption that we’re seeing in D.C. that’s making everything less affordable,” he said, zeroing in on Trump’s tariffs, the Iran war and the Republican-controlled Congress’ capitulation on both. “Our junior senator has totally given away our voice. She’s not worried about us at all.”Through aides, Hyde-Smith declined an interview. But her campaign manager projected confidence.
