Senate Majority PAC, the super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, is injecting $1.2 million into the Mississippi Senate race, a state that has not elected a Democrat to the upper chamber since 1982. The group announced Tuesday that the funds will support television and digital advertising through Election Day for Scott Colom, the Democratic district attorney challenging Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
The first 30-second spot highlights Colom's tenure as a prosecutor, casting him as a corruption-fighter who takes on both parties. It also labels Hyde-Smith a "do-nothing" senator. "It is clear Colom is running a competitive race that has put Hyde-Smith on her heels," SMP spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement.
The move comes as the nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted its rating of the Mississippi contest from solid Republican to lean Republican, signaling that the GOP may face an unexpectedly tough defense in a state President Trump carried by 23 percentage points in 2024. The rating change underscores Democratic hopes of expanding the Senate map deep into Trump territory, following similar spending in Kansas, Alaska, Texas, and Iowa—all states Trump won by double digits last year.
Hyde-Smith's campaign dismissed the notion of a competitive race, seeking to nationalize the contest by tying Colom to Schumer. "Chuck knows what Mississippians know, Scott Colom is too liberal" for the state, campaign spokesperson Nathan Calvert told Politico. He also jabbed at the timing: "It took Chuck Schumer and his Super PACs thirteen months to run a single ad for Scott Colom."
Calvert further accused Colom of backing "transgender surgeries for children, men in women's restrooms and locker rooms, open borders, and higher taxes," and predicted voters would reject that agenda on November 3.
The ad campaign follows a recent spot featuring former President Barack Obama, who urges Mississippi voters to support Colom. "Mississippi, it's time for a change. That's why you need to send Scott Colom to the U.S. Senate," Obama says in the ad, emphasizing Colom's prosecutorial record.
Democrats face steep odds in Mississippi, where Trump's 2024 margin was overwhelming and the party's last Senate victory was more than four decades ago. Still, the combination of outside spending, Obama's involvement, and the shifted Cook rating suggests national Democrats see an opening, however narrow. The race could also have implications for the party's broader Senate strategy, as some analysts warn that Democratic Senate wins in 2026 could complicate 2028 hopes by altering the political landscape for future presidential cycles.
SMP's investment is part of a wider effort to stretch Republican resources across multiple states. The group's spending in Mississippi, Kansas, Alaska, Texas, and Iowa reflects a strategy to force the GOP to play defense in traditionally safe territory. Whether that bet pays off in Mississippi will depend on whether Colom can overcome the state's deep-red fundamentals and Hyde-Smith's efforts to define him as out of step with voters.
With less than a month until Election Day, the airwaves in Mississippi will now feature a multimillion-dollar battle, testing just how far Democrats can push into Republican strongholds. The outcome could signal whether the party's expansive Senate map is a genuine threat or merely a costly distraction.
