Democrat Within Striking Distance in Mississippi Senate Race Trump Won by 23 Points

By The Financial District
2 hours ago
2 min read

Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith held a six-point lead over Democrat Scott Colom in a new poll of the Mississippi Senate race, a state that President Donald Trump won by nearly 23 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, Andrew Stanton reported for Newsweek US.

**Democrat Scott Colom is seeking to make the 2026 Mississippi Senate race competitive against Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.**

Mississippi is not ordinarily considered competitive territory for Democrats. It has been one of the country's most consistently conservative states in recent presidential elections.

But Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have signaled support for Colom, a district attorney, as the party seeks to expand the electoral battleground.

Because of its large Black population, Mississippi has long presented Democrats with a relatively high floor but a difficult path to a statewide majority.

Democrats have regularly received more than 40% of the vote in statewide races but have struggled to win amid the state's strong partisan and racial polarization.

Democrats hope that increased Black turnout across the South could make the race more competitive. Jake Monssen, Hyde-Smith's campaign manager, told Newsweek the poll was “partisan” and “fielded to produce the headlines and fundraising appeals they wanted.”

Colom told Newsweek that the poll “makes clear that when Mississippians hear about both of us, I win.”

The Data for Progress poll found Hyde-Smith leading Colom 44% to 38%, with independent candidate Ty Pinkins receiving 7%.

The survey was conducted among 1,018 likely voters from Aug. 5 to Aug. 15 and was sponsored by Way to Lead PAC, Democracy Alliance and Democracy Strategy Partners.

Mississippi remains a heavily Republican state. Trump won the state with 60.89% of the vote in 2024, compared with 38% for Kamala Harris, a Republican margin of 22.9 percentage points.