Scott Colom's Seat Gives Democrats Room to Spare if They Win the White House in 2028

Mississippi's secretary of state, Michael Watson, released official results from all 82 counties on Friday: Scott Colom 479,404 votes, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith 471,817, a margin of 7,587. Independent Ty Pinkins drew 20,439, more than the gap between them. The result makes Colom the first Democrat Mississippi has chosen for the Senate since 1982, an upset South Shore Press covered when the race was called.

The seat bears on the argument in "They Only Have to Win Once". Democrats take both chambers in January, and the presidency is the last lock. With it, they could enlarge the Supreme Court or admit new states by statute, and each added senator widens the margin for changing Senate rules to get there.

Colom ran as a Mississippi moderate. On a national podcast on May 29 he said, "I'm not going to DC to be the Democratic senator." He describes himself as personally pro-life and has said he backs Second Amendment gun rights.

His written answers lean further left. A newspaper questionnaire asked whether he backs a federal abortion right and where he would draw the line. He answered in full, "I'm personally pro-life. As a father of two daughters, I understand the importance of reproductive freedom and trust women to make the right decision for themselves." The reply named no point at which he would restrict abortion.

In June 2021, as district attorney, he signed a joint statement of elected prosecutors condemning "the ongoing efforts to criminalize transgender people and gender-affirming healthcare," and the signers pledged to "use our discretion and not promote the criminalization of gender-affirming healthcare or transgender people." In an Oct. 21 public radio interview he said, "I don't believe in gender-affirming surgery for children."

On the economy he wants the minimum wage raised and tied to the cost of living, the lapsed Affordable Care Act tax credits restored and the recent Medicaid cuts canceled. On Social Security he points to the income cap on payroll taxes and writes, "We should ask the highest earners to contribute their part." He wrote that he would fight for "a nationwide end to partisan gerrymandering and to fully restore the Voting Rights Act," and he opposes the SAVE Act's requirement of documentary proof of citizenship.

Colom has not publicly stated a position on the filibuster, the size of the Supreme Court or statehood for Washington, D.C., or Puerto Rico. After the election he declined to commit to Chuck Schumer as majority leader, saying, "I gotta know my options." Kamala Harris, who rallied with him in Columbus on Oct. 22, told a National Urban League gathering in Nashville on July 31, "We need to revisit the point of expanding the court to 13 justices," and urged another look at making D.C. and Puerto Rico states "if they so want." On Jan. 19, 2022, a Democratic voting rights bill failed cloture 49 to 51, and a move to change the rule for it lost 52 to 48 when Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema voted with Republicans.

Prices explain much of Mississippi's choice, and turnout held up for a midterm: the three candidates drew 971,660 votes, about 79% of the state's 2024 presidential total. Asked in February about beef prices, Hyde-Smith said, "You know, you have so many proteins to choose from," and his ad built on that answer spread widely online. She voted for the 2025 tax and spending law, which passed after Vice President JD Vance broke a 50 to 50 tie and which Colom says took roughly $11 billion out of Medicaid in Mississippi. Before Election Day he also credited the Supreme Court's Callais ruling and the push to redraw Rep. Bennie Thompson's district with stirring Black voters. "I mean, the Callais decision helped me, right?" he said. "We've got African American voters understanding that voting rights are on the line."

Through Oct. 14, federal filings show Colom raised $4.4 million, nearly $1 million of it in small unitemized gifts. Hyde-Smith raised $4.6 million over the two-year cycle, $1.28 million of it from political committees. In September 2025, George Soros and Alexander, his son, each gave Colom's campaign $7,000, the most the law allows across the primary and general elections. In 2015 a committee funded entirely by Soros spent about $716,000 backing Colom in his first district attorney race, state campaign finance records show, though his campaign received none of it.

Colom's win gives the Democratic caucus 55 seats, and an uncalled Alaska race could make it 56. Senate rules require 60 votes to end debate, yet each party has already cut that threshold for nominations by simple majority, 52 to 48 in 2013 and again in 2017. A Democratic vice president would break any 50 to 50 tie. A 55-seat caucus could lose five seats in 2028 and, voting together, still hold the votes to end the legislative filibuster in 2029.

Congress sets the Court's size by statute, and it has stood at nine since 1869. The House passed D.C. statehood 216 to 208 in 2021. Colom's six-year term runs into January 2033, nearly all of the next president's term. If Republicans lose in 2028, the remaining safeguard is the conscience of a few Democratic senators, and in January a Mississippian who promises independence and has not stated his limits joins them.