I'm usually focused on North Carolina races. Today, I'm fairly obsessed with Mississippi District Attorney Scott Colom, who appears to be making a lot of headway against Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith, the former agriculture commissioner who got appointed to Thad Cochran's seat when he stepped down, survived a special election, and won her first full term in 2020. She's a MAGA-bot.
You get a quick -- and fairly indelible -- impression of Colom from almost any of his reels and videos, and there are a lot of reels and videos. Here's just one that hits a lot of character traits, remarkable for how he introduces his family, who are downright charming. Also funny. They're genuine. The whole family seems as solid as seasoned oak, and Colom comes across as "all-American striver" for the good and the just.
He says in another video that his father, who's a Republican, ran once for state treasurer and campaigned for Ronald Reagan. His mother, also accomplished, served as a sitting state judge. Colom won his district attorney race in north Mississippi in 2015, quickly established a reputation for successful prosecutions, and was himself named to a Federal district judgeship by President Joe Biden in 2022. Why didn't that judgeship happen? Because Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith could -- and did -- block his nomination from going forward. Colom is now running to unseat her. The Great Wheel turns!
The national Democrats have certainly noticed him. Chuck Schumer and DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand praised him when he announced. Schumer attended a fundraiser for Colom in DeeCee. But so far the DSCC has left Mississippi out of its $40 million "investment" fund. Colom has complained a bit about that, but he's also turned the snub into something like a rallying cry. He has raised good money, $2.8 mil by the last filing. But Hyde-Smith has a million more. The best sign is that Colom outraised Hyde-Smith in the 2nd Quarter. There may be wind at his back. Or maybe a wave.
The attack lines against Colom will emphasize the letter he signed in 2021 opposing efforts to criminalize transgender people and gender-affirming health care. "Too liberal for Mississippi!" That oldie. "Probably a Communist!" He did receive support from none other than the George Soros-funded Mississippi Safety & Justice PAC, which spent heavily in support of Colom's 2015 DA campaign. I applaud George Soros for spotting talent. Frankly, if Colom stays very much on message about the economics of life in Mississippi -- as he seems to be doing -- I doubt very much that red-baiting is going to work as well as it used to. With the outrageous prices of everything, who has time to worry about ... did you say "communists"? What is this? 1957?
Some Democratic liberals possibly harbor a grudge against Colom, because as District Attorney he recused himself from the Ricky Ball police-shooting case. It was the standard outrage -- a white police officer manages to kill a Black teenager during a routine traffic stop. Rather than charge the cop, D.A. Colom kicked the case to the state's Attorney General. (I sympathize with that decision.) The officer was subsequently indicted for manslaughter by a grand jury, but the Republican Attorney General of Mississippi dismissed the charge in 2020. You can see why people get upset. Colom later told Mississippi Today that he regretted transferring the case to the Attorney General's Office, with its sad and maddening outcome. The blasted fruit of his own recusal.
One poll puts Hyde-Smith ahead by 6 points. But the Colom campaign's internal polling puts them dead-even. So Colom is getting a fair share of coverage on the Left side of the media right now. I finally decided to pay attention today. 'Bout time.
