COLUMBUS, Miss.—Former Vice President Kamala Harris stumped for Mississippi U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom at his hometown high school on Oct. 22.
The Democrat and district attorney for the 16th Judicial District of Mississippi has gained ground on his Republican opponent, incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), in the Magnolia State as the clock ticks closer to Nov. 3.
Colom’s rise in the Senate race prompted the Cook Political Report to switch the contest from a “Solid Republican” to a “Likely Republican” win as the Senate Majority PAC funneled $1.2 million on an advertisement to boost his campaign.
“I have traveled here because indeed Mississippi matters,” Harris said to an auditorium of approximately 1,000 people.
The former Democratic nominee for president told the crowd that she understands people have been going through a “range of emotions, from anger to … sadness to depression” in Trump’s second term and urged the crowd to “turn that anger into action.”
“Let’s remind them that these people up there in Washington are trying to make you feel powerless,” Harris added. “They’re trying to make you feel alone. They’re trying to make you feel like you don’t have somebody. You have Scott!”
Harris took only 38 percent of the vote in the 2024 presidential election, while President Donald Trump won 60.9 percent.
The former vice president did not flip any counties that Trump carried in 2020, according to an analysis of county-level results from Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
She did not stray from taking aim at Trump in her speech, calling him a “tyrant” that Republicans won’t stand up to.
“We are witnessing the most callous, corrupt, and incompetent presidential administration,” Harris said. “We spent the last year and a half looking at TV, saying words we don’t say in church.”
When Colom was on stage, he challenged Trump to debate him when the president visits Corinth, Mississippi, on Oct. 26 because his opponent, whom he nicknamed “Cindy High Prices,” had not debated him.
He quipped that even if people wanted to see Trump speak, they wouldn’t be able to afford the gas to get there.
“In 2024 we were promised America first,” Colom said. “Y’all remember that? We got Mississippi last. We were promised lower grocery prices on day one; instead, we got a sales tax on day one, we got gas prices through the roof, we got grocery prices through the roof.”
Trump did not impose a federal sales tax during his first or second term, but he issued the America First Trade Policy memorandum, which started the process of imposing tariffs on other countries.
Colom has compared Trump’s trade tariffs to a sales tax.
The Democrat on Oct. 22 added he wants to fight to raise the minimum wage on day one and end the war in Iran.
“We can only win together, so Mississippi, I need you,” Colom said.
Polls taken from April and August showed Hyde-Smith with a slight, single-digit lead over Colom.
Enthusiastic Democratic voters inside the auditorium told The Epoch Times they believe Colom will win the seat.
“I think people are just tired of the status quo, and they’re looking for change,” Lisa, a Democrat in Clay County, said as she spoke about her hopes for the economy.
Another group of union members from UNITE HERE Local 23, a union for hospitality workers, are backing Colom because they’re hoping he’ll raise the federal minimum wage, which sits at $7.25.
“Who can live off of that? Nobody,” Ashley, a hospitality worker and member of UNITE HERE Local 23, told The Epoch Times.
She added, “If the wages go up, the economy can go up because we can afford to be out there.”
The federal minimum wage has not been raised since the summer of 2009.
Ashley also supported Colom’s viral campaign ad, which aired Hyde-Smith’s suggestion on a television interview that Mississippians facing high beef prices “have so many proteins to choose from.”
The ad then showed people asking, “Pick another protein?” and saying they’d “rather pick another senator.”
The viral ad’s campaign message, “Pick a New Senator,” was splashed across campaign signs handed out to attendees at the Oct. 22 rally at Columbus High School.
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