The South won’t be written off. Not anymore.
On Nov. 11, Scott Colom officially won the U.S. Senate race in Mississippi, making him the first Democrat to win the state since 1982 and the state’s first Black senator since the Reconstruction era. President Donald Trump won Mississippi by 23 percentage points in 2024.
"I have the courage to believe in Mississippi," Colom said in his victory speech. "I have the courage to understand that we can show the country that Mississippi matters."
As it stands now, half of the Senate seats that Democrats flipped in these midterm elections were in the American South. In Mississippi, as in Texas and both North and South Carolina, voters showed up.
I am tired of people writing off the South, and voters are, too.
The South is where nearly 60% of Black Americans reside and is the fastest-growing region in the country. It has the largest LGBTQ+ population of any other region. It is a region where people have been disenfranchised by gerrymandering and other voter suppression tactics for generations, and it’s about time Democrats realize it is worth investing in.
If the Democratic National Committee wants to keep the South, leaders will give its candidates the resources they need, give the current politicians leadership positions and fight to end voter disenfranchisement in the region.
We shouldn't be surprised about what happened in Mississippi
People are quick to say that no one had Mississippi flipping on their bingo card. The sentiment that “no one saw this coming” is inaccurate. Some people saw the vision from the start.
Symone Sanders Townsend of MS Now saw it. For 10 months, starting in January, she told people to pay attention to Colom.
“People keep asking me what I saw in this race,” she wrote in a recent column. “I saw a candidate who knew how to compete in Mississippi, and years of nonpartisan organizing that helped build an electorate ready to hear him.”
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, saw it back in April, when he told Democratic donors that the party was “sleeping on” Mississippi. He went on to raise over half a million dollars for Colom’s campaign. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Maryland, saw it, too, and campaigned with Colom back in June.
But the people who believed in Colom from the start were Mississippians: the early supporters who knocked doors for him, the local leaders who helped spread his message and, ultimately, the more than 476,000 who voted for him.
Colom shouldn’t have been counted out, and it’s an indictment of the Democratic Party that Mississippi was not seen as competitive in the first place. Senate Majority PAC, a Democrat-aligned political action committee, first invested in the race in mid-October.
If this is what’s possible with so little consideration, imagine what could happen in 2028 if Democrats invested time and money early.
It's clear that Democrats need to invest in the South
Speaking as a Southerner, it is about damn time Democratic leadership recognizes that the South is worth investing in, that it is worth fighting for. Now that the region has racked up several major wins in the Senate and statewide races, perhaps Democrats are ready to take on what was once seen as a Republican stronghold.
For far too long, Democrats have focused on easy wins – the places that are guaranteed to go blue, or the places that could plausibly do so. Their money goes to places like New York and California, while the South is forced to fend for itself.
Colom’s win illustrates what is possible with very little support. Imagine what could happen if Democrats were deeply invested in the South, from making sure every county has a local Democratic Party to ensuring that statewide candidates have the financial support they need.
For years, I have believed in a better South – one that truly represents all of us, not just Republicans who bend the rules to maintain power. With Colom’s win, I hope Democratic leadership finally sees what’s possible.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on Bluesky: @sarapequeno.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Colom's Mississippi win proves the South is Democrats' to lose | Opinion
