Q&A: Scott Colom on Mississippi Senate race, healthcare, his viral campaign ad and more

MAYA MILLER, BYLINE: 

 What drew you to running for higher office? 

SCOTT COLOM:  Well, I think Mississippi has to have a senator that's going to look out for the people. We've got so many needs. We need good public education. We need good jobs. We need good healthcare, and that's what I'm running on. 

The tariffs have been terrible for farmers. The tariffs have been terrible for small businesses. They've been terrible for consumers. They're a tax. Tariffs are a sales tax.

The war in Iran has been terrible for Mississippi. It's got diesel prices through the roof. It's got farmers struggling. It's got everybody paying more at the gas station. 

The reality is our junior senator, the person who's supposed to be looking out for us, she sold us out. She's not looking out for our interests. She's giving away our voice, and we're paying more for it. I'm running because we need a senator that's going to put Mississippi first. 

MILLER:  How do you think your experience as a DA and a judge will translate to being a U.S. senator? 

COLOM:  It's great experience because when you're a district attorney or a judge, you don't worry about the political party. I don't know the political party of my victims. I don't know the political party of my defendants. All I know is what's right: justice, fairness and what the law says. Those are the type of values I was raised with as a Christian, in my community, from my parents, and those are the type of values I'm going to take to D.C. 

MILLER:  Many Mississippians are worried about the high prices of groceries, the high prices of health insurance and hospital closures. What are you hearing from people as you hit the campaign trail? 

COLOM: It's an honor to be campaigning all across the state of Mississippi. I've been to probably all of the counties — if not 82, 78 — and I've done over 60 town halls. I've been to the music festivals. I've been to the housing projects. I've gone to the voters. What I've heard are people are struggling and they want someone that's going to look out for them. The reality is, these are price increases of choice. 

Our junior senator chose to allow the tariffs to drive up prices. She chose to give away our voice on the war in Iran, which is driving up prices. Most importantly, she chose to vote for the Affordable Care Act federal support to go away, which cost 200,000 Mississippians to lose health insurance. 

Somebody's listening to this right now who has either themselves or a loved one who dropped off health insurance this year, and they need to know that's because our junior senator voted for the federal support to go away. 

Next year, another 100,000 at least in Mississippi are likely to lose health insurance, and the people listening to this need to know our junior senator voted for these people to lose health insurance, and she did it to look out for people in California and New York. Billionaires and millionaires. She's not looking out for us. 

What people are telling me is they want a fighter for Mississippi, a fighter that understands the issues matter, and somebody that's going to work to make their life better. 

MILLER:  I'm seeing your campaign signs in my community in rural Rankin County. You're reaching some deeply red places. How will you continue to reach those voters who might otherwise have voted for your opponents as we approach November 3rd? 

COLOM:  Well, I'm going to continue to do what I've done so far. I'm going to show up. One of the biggest betrayals we've gotten as a people of Mississippi from our junior senator — she refuses to do town halls. She hasn't done a town hall in six years. She doesn't debate. She doesn't do interviews. She never allows the press to even ask her questions about what her decision-making is. 

What's the thought process? Why is this the right decision for our state? She is a total ghost. While people are struggling with high costs and high insurance and hospitals closing, how dare you not show up? How dare you not take questions? How dare you not fight for us? 

What we're doing in our campaign is we're showing them what leadership is supposed to look like because we're showing up everywhere. We're doing town halls all over the place. We're going to the voters. We're going to be at homecoming for Jackson State tomorrow with our Pick Your Protein taco truck, giving away tacos, because I truly believe leadership is rooted in listening and learning. 

How could you ever be an effective leader if you're never listening to the people and you're never learning what's going on? 

MILLER: It's funny that you say "Pick Another Protein" taco truck. I would love to talk about your latest ad. It's racked up more than a million views across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Where did "Pick Another Senator" come from? 

COLOM:  Yeah, I have to tell you, what people need to understand is — that was Mississippi. That wasn't some big D.C. consultants. That wasn't a think tank. That was Ryan Sayles, who is a Jackson native. He's an amazing content creator, and he's been on my campaign from the beginning. 

He and I worked together, and we got the idea for a friend of mine. We said, "How can we make it Mississippi?" We got together. We found three people. We shot it very cheaply, and we said, "We're going to make this Mississippi." It took off. 

There's nothing wrong with Mississippi that can't be fixed with what's right about Mississippi. We're a people full of talent, full of creativity, full of energy. What's so great about that ad going viral is it was a Mississippi message, and it was developed by people in Mississippi. 

Shout out to my brother, too. My brother, Andrew Colom, helped me out a lot with it, with figuring out the scripting and the wording. 

MILLER:  Hyde-Smith's campaign has dubbed you the “transgender defender.” How do you feel about that? 

COLOM: Listen, I have two daughters. I believe in fairness in girls' sports, and I don't believe in gender-affirming surgery for children. 

I'll tell you this: as I campaigned all across the state of Mississippi, not one person has brought that up. In fact, actually one person did ask me about it, and I found out it was a tracker for her campaign. So that's not on the minds of Mississippians. 

Mississippians are worried about gas. They're worried about groceries. They're worried about the issues that actually impact their bottom line. What she's trying to do is she's trying to divide and distract us. So anybody that listens to that ad, ask yourself, "Why is she not talking about the issues that you care about? Why is she not talking about your life and making your life better?" 

She's trying to get you afraid. She's trying to get you to focus on the other. Please think about yourself. I'm the one that's talking about the issues that matter. She's talking about things that aren't going to impact your bottom line. 

MILLER: My colleague has also been talking to Hyde-Smith's campaign, and they're saying that there's recent polling that shows that they're in the lead. They're not worried. What's your response to that? 

COLOM: They're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on negative ads about me, and after all that money, they couldn't beat one viral ad. One viral ad was more effective than all the hundreds of thousands of dollars that they spent. 

They know that they are in trouble. I'm not worried about the polls right now because even the poll they referenced is within four points in the margin of error, in a state President Trump won by 23 points two years ago. What's about to happen is we're about to show the country that Mississippi is going in a new direction. 

MILLER: You recently held a rally with Sen. [Raphael] Warnock, and you'll be on the road with former VP Kamala Harris. What does it mean to you that national Dems are paying attention to a Mississippi race, where Mississippi hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate since John Stennis? 

COLOM:  What it means is the people of Mississippi did it. They are the ones that powered this campaign. I've got contributions from all 82 counties. I've done town halls where hundreds of people showed up. They built the momentum that got the national leaders to pay attention. But what's important to me is — I don't believe in celebrities in politics. We've got too many people trying to be celebrities in politics. You know what happens when you have a celebrity in politics? You get a celebrity president. 

What we have to do is we have to go back to politics that's centered in people. The reason Vice President Harris is coming out is to talk about healthcare and hospitals. We're going to do a press conference outside of Clarksdale Hospital. We're going to talk about the eight rural hospitals that are going to be at risk of closing because of these Medicaid cuts. We're going to talk about the 200,000 Mississippians that lost health insurance because the Affordable Care Act subsidies went away. That's bringing national attention to the issues, because the reality is, if I didn't have Vice President Harris to do that press conference, probably nobody covers it. You know how I know that? Because I did a press conference outside of Clarksdale Hospital, and nobody covered it, but Vice President Harris coming brings attention to it. I'm trying to bring attention to the issues that matter, because it's the people of Mississippi that need a new direction. 

MILLER: What's next for you as we close in on November 3rd? 

COLOM:  All gas, no brakes. Wednesday I had Sen. Warnock here. We held a 4 p.m. rally. It was very energetic. Afterwards, I did a lot of press. I got three hours of sleep and I drove to Pascagoula, Mississippi. At 4 a.m., I joined some union workers to pass out literature at Ingalls Shipyard. All gas, no brakes. 

We are going to do everything we can to reach as many voters as we can. We're going to continue to have creative ads that get people's attention, and we're peaking at the right moment. That's what's got her scared. Because listen, if she's offering a better Mississippi, why won't she debate? Why won't she go on a stage, offer her vision and values, contrast my vision and values, and let the people decide who's best? 

She doesn't want to answer for her betrayal. She doesn't want to answer for the corruption and the people of Mississippi are waking up to the reality.

MILLER:  This is just a fun question. You're going to represent all Mississippians if you're elected, but you know, Mississippi sports can be a little bit one side or the other.  So who's your team? 

COLOM:  I grew up a Mississippi State fan. That's the reality of it. I grew up in Columbus, Mississippi. My first football game I ever went to, my dad told me if I got all As, he would take me to a Mississippi State football game when I was eight or nine years old. I went to the Mississippi State game, and I was just blown away by the excitement, and I've been in love with sports ever since. 

That's a story that's very common for a Mississippi kid. I prefer Mississippi State, but it doesn't matter. I'm always rooting for Mississippi against any school other than Mississippi State 

MILLER:  Anything else that you would like Mississippians to know? 

COLOM:  In this election, you have a choice. Everybody listening to this, you have a choice. If you like high gas, you like high groceries, you like half a million in Mississippi not having health insurance, you like eight rural hospitals closing, you like corruption, you like betrayal — vote for Cindy Hyde-Smith. She has made it absolutely clear that she's not going to do anything to change any of those things. She has no solution to the issues that matter. 

But if you want somebody that's going to fight for high wages, I'm running on raising the minimum wage. I think $7.25 is much too low. If you think so, if you want somebody that's going to fight for lower costs, the tariffs are a sales tax. That's why you're paying more at the grocery store. The war in Iran has been terrible for Mississippi. I'm going to fight to get us out of the war in Iran so we can get the gas down and diesel down. If you want somebody that has the courage to fight corruption, I prosecuted a Democratic sheriff when he was abusing a female inmate. I don't care who does it. I will not tolerate corruption. If you want somebody that's going to put Mississippi first and focus on the issues that matter, I pray that you consider my campaign. I'm offering myself to be a leader for our state. 

Maya Miller is a Report for America corps member covering democracy and government for the Gulf States Newsroom. This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR.