(Photo from Scott Colom for Senate Facebook page)
Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).
- Despite efforts to publicly distance himself from them, progressive financiers and Democratic Party powerbrokers are backing the Mississippi DA for U.S. Senate.
Scott Colom has publicly sought to downplay his coziness with the far left wing of his party. Running for a statewide office in conservative Mississippi requires that of a Democrat in today’s political environment, especially when your likely general election opponent has been endorsed by a sitting Republican President who is widely popular among Magnolia State voters.
Yet, Colom’s campaign finance report coupled with his presence at a ‘No Kings’ protest over the weekend shines a bright light on his behind-the-scenes relationship with the progressive faction in the Democratic Party.
Powerbrokers and Financiers
Democratic Party powerbrokers George and Alexander Soros, Stacey Abrams, Dickie and Diane Scruggs, and Richard Schwartz are among the donors listed in Scott Colom’s first campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Committee last week.
Soros and his son donated $7,000 each to the Mississippi Democratic senatorial campaign of Colom, as did Dickie and Diane Scruggs. Schwartz donated $5,000, while Abrams contributed $1,000.
As previously reported by Magnolia Tribune, Soros’ son, Alexander, hosted a New York fundraiser for Colom last month. The event was intended to be a private gathering but the strain between the Soros political empire and the Trump Administration’s investigation into his funding of protests led to anonymous sources tipping the New York Times to the fundraiser.
When Colom announced a run for the U.S. Senate, he sought to make the distinction that the elder Soros’ previous support of him was funneled to a political action committee and not to him personally. That Soros-backed committee made $716,000 in expenditures to support Colom’s successful 2015 bid to unseat former District Attorney Forrest Allgood in the 16th Judicial District, a seat Colom has held ever since.
Mississippi will also remember Abrams, a Magnolia State native who rose to national notoriety through two failed bids for the Georgia Governor’s Mansion. Most recently, Abrams tried unsuccessfully to use her influence to flip the Gulfport mayor’s seat blue this summer.
Click here to see who contributed to Colom’s Senate campaign as of 3rd Quarter 2025
In addition to Soros and the other Democrat power players, Colom’s campaign benefitted from the ActBlue network, a national hub for donations that support Democratic candidates without listing specific names on a candidate’s campaign finance report. ActBlue’s support of Colom accounted for $295,000, which was more than 50 percent of the funds raised by Colom. There were nearly 250 donations made to Colom through ActBlue, meaning the Democrat donor hub accounted for just under 40 percent of his total reported transactions.
As a result, of those individual donors listed by the Colom campaign, the majority came from out-of-state locales that range from California to Massachusetts.
Also of note, former Mississippi Public Service Commissioner and unsuccessful 2023 Democrat gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley’s “Save Our State PAC” donated $5,000 to Colom, as did the American Association for Justice, the national association for trial lawyers.
‘No Kings’ Appearance
Colom was then spotted in the crowd attending the Jackson ‘No Kings’ protest on Saturday at the State Capitol sporting a “Mississippi Matters” hat.
The nationwide events are organized by a vast network of progressive organizations that partnered under the banner of ‘No Kings’ to host protests against President Donald Trump. Many protestors at these events wave signs calling the President a “fascist” and comparing Trump to Hitler.
The views of protestors at the events run the gamut of leftwing talking points, ranging from chants of “Free Palestine” to wanting to defund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in favor of open borders to pushing LGBTQIA+ and trans acceptance.
Partners in the protests include Black Lives Matter, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, anti-capitalist advocates, democratic socialist groups, labor and teacher unions, and other progressive organizations and fundraising arms of the Democratic Party.
Notably, Soros’ Open Society has been tied to the operational funding behind the groups organizing the ‘No Kings’ protests. FoxNews reported that “the Open Society Foundation has awarded $7.61 million in grants to the group behind the ‘No Kings’ protest.” FoxNews identified that group receiving the grants as Indivisible.
State of the Race
Colom is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination in what is now a three-person primary in Mississippi. The eventual Democratic nominee, whether it is Colom or someone else, will likely face incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in the general election.
Hyde-Smith also faces a robust primary challenge, with two GOP opponents having thrown their hat in the ring. She outpaced all candidates in the race in her latest campaign finance reporting, showing over $2.3 million cash on hand after a third quarter that saw her campaign raise over $1 million.
READ MORE: Hyde-Smith comes out swinging in re-election bid, reports over $2.3 million cash on hand
Colom raised the second most in the Senate race, pulling in roughly $570,000 and reporting $576,000 cash on hand. His campaign touted their efforts as “the most any Democratic Senate candidate in Mississippi has ever raised in their first quarter.”
The qualifying period for those running for a seat in the U.S. House or U.S. Senate in Mississippi opens December 1 and ends December 26.
Party primary elections will be held March 10, 2026, and the General Election is slated for November 3, 2026.
