Could the Deep South be blushing slightly blue — or at least less red? The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has shifted two Southern Senate races to the left, moving South Carolina to “lean Republican” from “likely Republican” and Mississippi to “likely Republican” from “solid Republican.”
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Democrats are taking the tilt seriously, as evidenced by a $1.2 million ad buy in Mississippi to attack incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) that the Senate Majority PAC announced Tuesday.
The spot, airing on television around the state, contrasts Democratic nominee Scott Colom’s career as a prosecutor with Hyde-Smith’s political record, accusing her of being ineffective and self-enriching.
It’s a steep hill for Colom. Hyde-Smith defeated former agriculture secretary Mike Espy by 10 percentage points in 2020, and President Donald Trump carried Mississippi by nearly 23 percentage points in 2024.
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In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews is challenging Sen. Darline Graham (R), who in July was appointed to serve the remaining term of her late brother, Lindsey Graham.
Republicans face big headwinds nationwide: a struggling economy, high grocery and gas prices, and the war in Iran. Cook’s decision to shift the races is based in part on candidate quality and is “further evidence that Democrats have expanded the map into red territory,” analyst Jessica Taylor wrote in her explanation for the ratings change.
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