Sen.-elect Scott Colom (D-Miss.) is pushing back on the narrative that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) personally recruited him to run for the Senate, insisting that the voters of Mississippi deserve the credit for his stunning victory.
“He did initially understand that our party has to look south for future leadership,” Colom told MS NOW’s Symone Sanders Townsend in an interview that aired Thursday. “I think that it’s not accurate to say he recruited me, though.”
“I push back on the idea that I was recruited, not as a disrespect to anybody, but just as an acknowledgement that the people of Mississippi are the folks that deserve the credit,” he added.
The comments come as Democrats celebrate a strong midterm performance that not only reclaimed the Senate majority but did so with room to spare. Schumer had previously recounted in a New York Times interview how he worked to recruit Democratic candidates in key battlegrounds to position the party for a takeover, and the Times reported that he had recruited Colom.
But Schumer now faces a challenge from within his own caucus. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) announced Thursday evening that he would seek the Democratic leader post, a development that has intensified the leadership fight ahead of the new Congress.
Although Colom’s interview was conducted before Van Hollen’s announcement, the senator-elect declined to commit to supporting Schumer. “I got to know my options,” he said. “I’m looking for a person that’s going to be committed to Mississippi and rural voices. If you’re able to listen to those voices and make sure that you understand their needs and putting them in position to be successful, then that’s the type of leadership I want.”
Colom’s victory over incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) was an upset that took more than a week to be called. Mississippi is a deep-red state that President Trump carried by nearly 23 points in 2024, and no Democrat has won a Senate seat there since 1982. The win has reshaped the Southern Democratic landscape, giving the party a foothold in a region where it has struggled for decades.
The race also carried personal history. Former President Biden nominated Colom to a federal judgeship, but Hyde-Smith, as his home-state senator, blocked a confirmation hearing. Colom said that past experience was not a factor in his decision to challenge her. “I’m a Christian. I mean, I forgive her,” he said. “It’s not good for the soul to hold, you know, anger and feelings like that toward somebody.”
Colom also said he has already spoken with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who will be his senior Senate colleague, and that the two pledged to work together and disagree respectfully. “He said, ‘If we disagree, we’re going to be respectful about it.’ And you know, we may not agree on everything, but when we disagree, we’ll be respectful,” Colom said. “We’re not a state that can get too bogged down in partisan food fights. We have to be a state that’s focused on delivering for Mississippi.”
