Dr. Brian Shoup, a political science professor at the Mississippi State University, explains that money donated goes towards a few different things.
“The first is the paying of the infrastructure of the party and campaign movement... The second is obviously television ads, and those can be very expensive, especially given the saturation of it. And it's not just television ads, it's also the sorts of advertisements that most of us are gonna see on social media,” Shoup said.
He also said that money goes towards mobilizing voter registration, reaching residents who may not yet have registered to vote or are unsure of who they will vote for.
Campaign finance reports are public information that can be found using the Secretary of State website, and finance reports for Mississippi’s U.S. Senate campaign can be found through the Federal Election Commission website. Information includes what group or individual donated money, the state the donor is sending from, and how much money was given to a political candidate or party.
For example, people who visit the website can see information for Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith receiving 28 donations from the organization WINRED, or that her Democratic opponent District Attorney Scott Colom has received 1,916 donations from donors in the state of Mississippi.
Shoup said that looking at information like who donates could also be more significant than just how much money they send.
“There's something very valuable to be said about cultivating a very broad donor base of individual voters, maybe some interest groups, that especially if it's within that state or within that particular region, because it signals kind of a grassroots motivation,” Shoup said. “And the amount is maybe not as important as the number of people who are doing that.”
He said a more diverse number of donors means more than just how much money they’re giving, but it means a candidate has more supporters from different parts of the state.
However, political scientists have noted shifts in how election campaigns work not just in Mississippi, but nationwide. He said the traditional ways of campaigning are starting to change.
“One of the great truisms in American politics had always historically been that the party that spends more is likely to win,” Shoup said. “And I don't really know that that's as true as it used to be.”
Shoup said historically, Republican party candidates had better access to money and resources compared to Democratic party candidates. But for Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race, he says Scott Colom has seen more support than past candidates.
But something else he saidto be wary of is what political scientists call the nationalization of political races.
“It's sort of turning what our founders had intended our legislative branch to be on its head. The idea of funding and running on local issues that are relevant to the constituent in a house district or issues related to representing a state, which is the function of the Senate... those things are still there, right?” Shoup said. “But it's also the fact that these have become in their own way national offices.”
Shoup said with local campaigns receiving national attention, it sometimes gets in the way of addressing issues that Mississippians have in the state. He added this is also a large difference in how campaigns work historically. Money that is donated by organizations from outside the state might overshadow donations in the state, leaving some voices unheard.
In the end, Shoup said the best thing residents can do is to continue to stay informed on political candidates in their state by checking credible news sites before Nov. 3rd. Voters can find a sample ballot of candidates in their district by visiting MPB’s voter guide.
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