Policy · Mississippi
Mississippi Senate race tightens ahead of Nov. 3 as Colom trails by 5 points
Democrat Scott Colom is challenging Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith for a seat no Democrat has won since 1982, with Black voter turnout central to his chances.
October 30, 2026 at 12:35 PM ET · The Newsroom
Mississippi voters decide a U.S. Senate race on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Democrat Scott Colom trails Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 5 points in polls, in a state President Donald Trump won by 23 points in 2024. A Colom win would make him the first African American to win the seat since Reconstruction in the 1870s.
Stacey Abrams' groups Fair Fight, Fair Count and the Southern Economic Advancement Project have spent or raised more than $5 million in Mississippi over eight years. Abrams said the groups have talked with Black voters about how their votes affect daily life, not only about registering. Black residents make up nearly 40% of the state's population, and the state has more than 1 million eligible Black voters. Abrams said the seat could flip with fewer than 30,000 votes.
The race has drawn former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and former Vice President Kamala Harris. Senate Majority PAC has spent $1.2 million on advertising. Mississippi State Sen. Johnny DuPree said the groups' earlier work helped Democrats win attention, and he was one of two Democrats to flip Republican-held state Senate seats in last year's special elections, which ended a Republican supermajority. Colom has also said Democrats should stop writing off Mississippi.