Scott Colom will be the first black senator since the 19th century, and the first Democrat since 1982 to win a Mississippi senate seat. He beat the Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by just a few thousand votes, in a state Donald Trump won by 23 points in 2024. It’s a momentous victory for the Democratic party who didn’t invest in its senate Mississippi campaign until very late on in the election cycle.
So how did Scott Colom do it, and is the Deep South now in play for the Democrats?
In this episode, Justin, Sarah and Marianna unpack one of the biggest upsets of the midterms, looking at the impact of Colom’s viral ad “pick another protein”, why he was a strong candidate and what this means for 2028. Should the Democrats be investing more in US southern states in the presidential election, and would the the party benefit from a candidate who is from the south?
Plus, Justin speaks to Charles Taylor, the NAACP’s Mississippi executive director, whose team knocked on more than 150,000 doors to get out the black vote. Can that turnout be repeated in future elections?
- Sarah Smith, North America Editor
- Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Senior Correspondent
- Charles Taylor, Executive Director, Mississippi State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
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This episode was made by George Dabby with Alix Pickles and Nik Sindle. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
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