Over the coming days, the Mississippi Gazette will tell the stories of the five Democrats running for federal office.

But before doing so, it’s worth taking a moment to look back at the tumultuous road the party took to get here.

Just three years ago, in the middle of the 2023 statewide election cycle, the Mississippi Democratic Party was coming apart in public view.

Feuding party leaders spent more than an hour shouting over one another in an emergency meeting where the 80-member executive committee voted to abruptly remove then-Chairman Tyree Irving.

By the end of the meeting, the committee had elected State Rep. Cheikh Taylor as the party’s new chairman.

But almost lost in the chaos of the moment was just how consequential that decision would become.

Taylor was no stranger to politics. He had served in the Mississippi House of Representatives since 2017, representing District 38.

But there was little that could have prepared him for the mess he inherited.

The party was cash-strapped, divided internally, and struggling to compete in a state where Republicans had come to dominate.

Taylor immediately got to work rebuilding the party’s infrastructure.

And less than a year into his tenure, that work got some unexpected help.

Oddly enough, it came from a challenge to his chairmanship by prominent Mississippi attorney and businessman Wil Colom.

By then, Taylor had made significant progress, but Colom pressed the party to go further, calling for a rigorous fundraising operation and a stronger system for recruiting candidates.

The two men made their cases, and the executive committee ultimately stayed with Taylor.

But the contest did not turn into another bitter party feud.

Colom remained involved with the party and today serves as Mississippi’s Democratic National Committeeman.

And, as a result, the Mississippi Democratic Party looks very different today.

The party is better organized than at any time in decades and, after a strong 2025 election cycle, it now boasts what may be the strongest federal ticket it has had in the modern era.

As luck would have it, that comes precisely during what may be the most important moment in the history of Mississippi politics.

The 2026 midterm elections.

Not only that, but the ticket also comes with an interesting connection to the party’s rebuilding.

It is led by none other than Wil Colom’s son.

Scott Colom, the district attorney for Mississippi’s 16th Circuit Court District, is the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate.

And, as may be evidenced by his father’s involvement in the party’s rebuilding, his run was clearly not something thrown together at the last minute.

Scott Colom’s campaign for the United States Senate has been the kind of operation that takes organization, money, and preparation to build.

And Colom also has strong support on the federal ticket alongside him.

Renowned civil-rights lawyer Cliff Johnson is the Democratic nominee in the First Congressional District.

Veteran Congressman Bennie Thompson is running again in the Second District.

Political newcomer Michael A. Chiaradio is running in the Third.

And current Mississippi State Representative and 22-year Army veteran Jeffrey Hulum III is running in the Fourth.

Their backgrounds are remarkably different.

But together, they have given Democrats across Mississippi something the party badly needed after the turmoil of just three years ago:

A reason to have hope and to come out and vote in the upcoming midterm elections on November 3.