Colom blasts absent Hyde-Smith, Pinkins promises alternative at Neshoba County Fair as US Senate midterm nears
By Michael Goldberg | Originally published by Mississippi Today
NESHOBA COUNTY – Two of Mississippi’s candidates for U.S. Senate braved rainy, muddy conditions at the Neshoba County Fair on Wednesday, with each casting themselves as independent-minded and ready to bring change to a polarized Congress.
Democratic candidate Scott Colom and independent Ty Pinkins spoke under the tin-roofed pavilion at Founder’s Square just over four months before November’s midterm federal election. Congress is in session this week, which prevented incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith from attending the fair, her campaign told Mississippi Today.
In November, Democrats aim to reclaim majorities in the House and Senate as a check on Republican President Donald Trump’s power. Republicans are working to protect Senate incumbents in ruby red states such as Mississippi, as polling indicates a strong midterm for Democrats might be forthcoming. The election has kicked off a fierce fundraising battle and a flurry of spending from national groups. Leading Senate Democrats see the Mississippi race as a long-shot opportunity for Democrats, who need to net four more seats to reclaim a majority in the upper chamber.
Colom is running to become the first Democrat since the 1980s to win a U.S. Senate race in Mississippi. To do so, he’ll need to oust Hyde-Smith, a former state agriculture commissioner who became a U.S. senator in 2018 after former Gov. Phil Bryant appointed her to fill the seat vacated by longtime Sen. Thad Cochran. Pinkins, an attorney, is running as an independent after unsuccessful runs for state and federal offices as a Democrat.
Colom struck a bipartisan tone at the outset of his speech, recounting visiting Neshoba as a 9-year-old with his father, who at one point worked for Ronald Reagan, the former Republican president who drew national attention when he spoke at the fair in favor of “states’ rights.” That personal background, Colom said, would inform his approach as a U.S. senator.
“I’m not running to be another Democratic senator,” Colom said. “I’m running to be Mississippi’s senator.”
Colom, a district attorney for Noxubee, Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties, went on to highlight his work prosecuting criminals and vowed to protect Second Amendment rights in the Senate. Colom also vowed to promote policies that lower the cost of consumer goods and railed against the “tax breaks to billionaires,” which he said Hyde-Smith had supported.
And so began the fire and brimstone portion of Colom’s remarks, which cast Hyde-Smith as an ally of billionaires and the national Republican Party. Colom accused Hyde-Smith of billing trips to Las Vegas to her campaign account, a claim the senator’s campaign has steadfastly denied.
“Listen y’all, she could have at least spent money on the Gulf Coast,” Colom said. “We got nice hotels, we got nice restaurants.”
He also criticized Hyde-Smith for supporting tariffs that have harmed Mississippi farmers, a remark that was punctuated by a shout from the crowd imploring voters to “put Cindy out to pasture!”
Nathan Calvert, Hyde-Smith’s campaign communications director, said in a statement before Colom’s speech that she was “in Washington working on behalf of all Mississippians.”
Hyde-Smith’s campaign has criticized Colom’s ties to national Democratic groups and accused him of being a “transgender defender” out of touch with Mississippi values. She has also defended her record as an advocate for Mississippi’s agriculture industry and promoted her close working relationship with President Trump.
In his remarks, Pinkins did not criticize Colom or Hyde-Smith by name, but he said his opponents were part of a two-party system that fails to live up to their principles
“Let’s stop allowing these two parties to send mediocre candidates to Washington, D.C., to represent a state full of extraordinary people,” Pinkins said. “I had the courage to step away from the two-party system and offer you something different on the ballot this year.”
Pinkins said his agenda in Congress would be focused on getting big money out of politics. To that end, he also called himself the only candidate who is not “beholden to the pro-Israel lobby.”
In addition to the Senate candidates, Michael Chiaradio, the Democratic nominee for the 3rd Congressional District currently held by Republican Michael Guest, said in his fair speech that he would aim to bridge partisan divides in Washington.
With Congress in session, Guest also did not show up on Wednesday.
The Neshoba County Fair is set to continue with more political speeches on Thursday.
This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Source: Original Article
