The latest sign of Republican midterm problems: A top super PAC is buying ads in Mississippi

By Sarah Ferris, Manu Raju, David Wright, CNN

(CNN) — Republicans working to keep the Senate are increasingly anxious about holding onto a seat in Mississippi — a GOP stronghold in the deep South — and are investing money in the final weeks to shore up incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.

Senate Leadership Fund, the leading GOP super PAC focused on Senate races, made an initial reservation of about $160,000 in Mississippi on Thursday, according to AdImpact data, with more cash expected.

That move comes as Senate Democrats’ announced they’ll spend roughly $1 million on ads for the race — but it’s something that GOP officials had been considering even before the Democratic buy, according to one person familiar with the discussions.

Party officials have told CNN they do not believe they will lose in Mississippi, a state President Donald Trump won by 23 points just two years ago. But Republicans — who have a major cash advantage over Democrats — are closely watching the rise of Scott Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney who’s been backed by top Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Kamala Harris and Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock. Harris campaigned with Colom Thursday.

Such a move by a Senate GOP group would have been unthinkable not long ago. It reflects the worsening national political landscape facing Republicans ahead of the midterms, as well as Colom’s ability to capitalize on Hyde-Smith’s uneven campaign performance with viral moments that have started to galvanize the party behind his long-shot bid. Hyde-Smith’s anemic fundraising and historic midterm headwinds have added to the pressure.

And it’s an extraordinary step for a party that’s already defending incumbents in deep-red Kansas and South Carolina, while spending hundreds of millions battling in Texas, Ohio, Iowa and Alaska.

Republicans have also noted that Hyde-Smith has historically underperformed Trump after she was appointed in 2018. (Hyde-Smith won her first full term in 2020 by 10 points while Trump won the state by more than 16.)

From the start of 2026 through the end of September, the Senate race in Mississippi saw less than $5 million in ad spending. But from the start of October through Election Day, it will see nearly $8 million, Democrats currently outspending Republicans by about $5 million to $2.7 million.

Senate Republicans’ campaign chief, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, had repeatedly said that the party would not bail out incumbents if they did not adequately prepare for a tough cycle, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions. He said as recently as last month that he did not plan to put money in Mississippi or Kansas, where Sen. Roger Marshall is trying to hold off Democrat Adam Hamilton, according to one of those people.

But party operatives also acknowledge they’re facing their worst political climate in two decades and may need to consider all options to halt the Democratic surge across the map. And polling is uncertain in a rural state like Mississippi.

Hyde-Smith’s campaign official told CNN last week she had not asked her party for more resources.

“We are confident that Senator Hyde-Smith will win on November 3rd. Mississippians know her record: billions brought home for infrastructure and rural health care; conservative judges confirmed and liberal ones blocked; tax relief for working families and small businesses; a secure border; and votes that keep men out of girls’ sports and locker rooms,” Jake Monssen, Hyde-Smith’s campaign manager, said in a statement.

Colom has repeatedly made the case, including to top leaders of his own party, that Mississippi is on the cusp of becoming a competitive state, noting that its voter makeup – with Black Americans making up 38% of the population – is closer to the battleground state of Georgia than any other state in the Deep South.

“Mississippi is next, there’s no doubt about that,” Colom said.

All four of the Senate’s Black Democrats – including Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey – have campaigned for Colom in recent weeks – and have made a direct pitch to party insiders for more resources there, according to multiple people familiar with the conversations.

“He has run a strong campaign focused on reaching out directly to voters and speaking to their concerns about the rising costs of gas and groceries. That’s why he’s in the position he’s in, and that’s why Republicans are nervous. They’re finally realizing what I’ve said from the beginning: Mississippi is the next Georgia,” Delaware Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester told CNN in a statement.

The decision to pour money into Mississippi comes at a fraught time for the national Republican Party, which is increasingly on the defense in Trump territory.

Scott has cautioned his fellow senators on more than one occasion: “Run afraid or run unopposed,” according to a person familiar with the remarks.

Top Democrats, meanwhile, had not planned to put money into the state, faced with a cash shortage that party officials have previously told CNN is preventing them from going into deeper red territory. But that changed this week with a $1.2 million reservation.

Mississippi has been a seat of interest for several cycles now for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his campaign team, who consider it Democrats’ best chance for a pickup in the deep South, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions. Democrats have long believed that the state could be competitive if they can find the right candidate and turn out Black voters – who traditionally vote Democratic – arguing that could allow them to overcome the historical lack of resources and infrastructure in the state for their party.

Schumer has personally promoted Colom’s campaign, holding a fundraiser for him in DC earlier this year and telling donors at one recent event that “Mississippi needs attention too,” according to a person familiar with the conversations.

Democratic donors have expressed growing interest in the Mississippi contest to boost Colom. America Bridge PAC, a Democratic-aligned group, recently announced plans to spend $2.1 million in the state.

Many of those events have focused on get-out-the-vote efforts, especially in Black communities, which have been a major focus of Colom’s campaign from the start.

In 15 years, Colom told CNN he is one of only four Democrats who’s raised enough money to run statewide TV ads in the state.

Starting last month, Colom and his team have driven a food truck around college campuses, housing projects, musical festivals and other local gathering spots to meet voters, blast music and hand out free tacos. In recent days, Colom’s been serving “pick your protein” tacos – a jab at Hyde-Smith’s recent comment that there are “so many proteins to choose from” given soaring beef prices.

“Our current senator does not campaign. She hasn’t done a town hall in six years,” Colom told CNN. “You can’t pay for gas with lies. You can’t buy groceries with lies.”

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