Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Scott Colom is working tirelessly to do something Mississippi Democrats have not done in decades.

Turn a Republican-held Senate seat into a competitive race.

Colom has spent the summer traveling the state and holding town halls to make his case against Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.

It is a difficult fight, even against an incumbent like Hyde-Smith whose approval numbers have been low.

But there is another fight following him.

Ty Pinkins.

Pinkins ran for U.S. Senate as a Democrat in 2024 and received just over 37% of the vote.

He is now running for a Senate seat in 2026, but this time as an independent.

Pinkins left the Democratic Party in 2025, driven in part by frustration with party politics and what he described as Democratic “gatekeeping.”

That is his explanation for the campaign.

But from the perspective of many Colom supporters, something else is happening.

Colom is trying to move beyond the internal fights that have consumed Mississippi Democrats for years.

Pinkins is still fighting one of those fights.

And Pinkins has every right to run as an independent.

But that does not mean his candidacy exists outside the political consequences of the race.

Mississippi does not have a runoff for general elections for federal offices. The candidate receiving the most votes wins, even without a majority.

That makes the presence of a third candidate like Pinkins consequential to the arithmetic of the election.

There is also a more personal criticism of Pinkins coming from people who have watched him campaign.

In appearances, Pinkins has sometimes spoken at considerable length and appeared intent on becoming the central figure at events even when the event itself was broader than his campaign.

That is a subjective view, of course.

Pinkins’ supporters could see the same behavior as persistence or a willingness to demand attention.

But his critics see something different.

They see a candidate who sometimes seems more focused on making his presence felt than on recognizing the larger political moment around him.

That criticism is worth examining because campaigns are not conducted in a vacuum.

Colom is building a coalition that has to compete in a state that has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator since 1982.

No one is obligated to accept his vision.

But for Colom, the question is whether Mississippi Democrats can build something larger than their old internal fights.

For Pinkins, the question is whether an independent campaign can turn his personal dissatisfaction into something larger.

Those are very different questions, centered around very different concepts.

Pinkins’ critics see a campaign that is increasingly centered on Pinkins himself, including what they describe as excessive attention-seeking behavior.

Colom, by contrast, has presented himself as a candidate focused on the broader task of selfless public service.

The difference between those approaches is becoming increasingly visible.

This November, Mississippi voters will decide which candidates they want to represent them in the United States Senate.

And we hope you decide to vote for Scott Colom and for Democrats down the ballot.