WASHINGTON — The primary super PAC aligned with Senate Democrats announced Tuesday that it is launching a $1.2 million advertising blitz in Mississippi, signaling an aggressive push into deep-red territory as the party works to capture the Senate majority.
The investment by Senate Majority PAC, which is aligned with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will fund television and digital spots through Election Day, NBC News reported. The group’s opening 30-second commercial promotes Democratic challenger Scott Colom, a local district attorney, framing him as a prosecutor who will “fight corruption in both parties” while characterizing incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith as a “do-nothing” lawmaker.
“Senate Majority PAC has been watching this race closely, and it is clear Colom is running a competitive race that has put Hyde-Smith on her heels,” Lauren French, a spokesperson for the super PAC, said in a statement reported by NBC News.
Expanding the Senate map
To win control of the Senate, Democrats need to secure a net gain of four seats. That threshold requires making inroads in multiple states that President Donald Trump won comfortably in 2024, NBC News reported. The decision to invest in Mississippi comes as Trump’s approval ratings decline.
Mississippi represents the most conservative state targeted by the group so far. Trump carried the state by 23 percentage points two years ago, and no Democrat has won a U.S. Senate election in Mississippi since 1982. In addition to Mississippi, Senate Majority PAC has poured resources into Kansas, where Trump won by 16 points, as well as double-digit 2024 Trump states including Alaska, Texas and Iowa, according to NBC News.
The shifting political environment in Mississippi was also noted by nonpartisan analysts. The Cook Political Report adjusted its rating for the Mississippi Senate contest on Tuesday, shifting it from “solid Republican” to “likely Republican” because of weakening Republican advantages, CNN reported. Cook also shifted South Carolina’s Senate race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican,” while adjusting Minnesota’s race from “likely Democrat” to “lean Democrat.”
A rivalry renewed
Democratic leaders, including Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, have long viewed Colom as a formidable challenger, NBC News reported.
The race also carries personal political history between the two candidates. During the Biden administration, Hyde-Smith blocked Colom’s nomination to a federal judgeship. When Colom launched his Senate campaign last year, he told NBC News that he had forgiven her for blocking the post, but said he was spurred to enter the race after Hyde-Smith voted for Trump’s tax and spending law, which cut Medicaid funding.
Hyde-Smith, who holds Trump’s endorsement, is seeking her second full six-year term. She was initially appointed to the Senate in 2018 before winning a full term in 2020 by 10 percentage points, NBC News reported.
The Mississippi ad blitz is part of an unprecedented deluge of campaign spending nationwide. Total advertising across the midterm elections is projected to exceed $11 billion before Election Day, driven in large part by billionaire megadonors across both parties, CNN reported.
Whether the late advertising surge and shifting race ratings will translate into a historic southern upset remains to be seen as voters head toward the polls in November.
