Colom: ‘Not accurate’ to say Schumer recruited him

Sen.-elect Scott Colom (D-Miss.) pushed back on the idea that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) personally recruited him to run for Senate, saying the people of Mississippi deserve the credit for his upset victory.

“He did initially understand that our party has to look south for future leadership,” Colom told MS NOW’s Symone Sanders Townsend in an interview that aired Thursday. “I think that it’s not accurate to say he recruited me, though.”

“I push back on the idea that I was recruited, not as a disrespect to anybody, but just as an acknowledgement that the people of Mississippi are the folks that deserve the credit,” he added.

The Senate Democratic leader was part of a strong performance in the midterm elections. Democrats not only won back the chamber but did so with seats to spare.

Schumer recounted in an interview with The New York Times how he recruited Democratic candidates across the battleground races to ensure his party would be best positioned to reclaim the upper chamber. In the story, the Times said Schumer recruited Colom.

But Schumer now faces a challenge from inside his caucus for his position as Democratic leader, with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) announcing Thursday evening he would seek the role.

Though the interview was conducted before Van Hollen announced his challenge, Colom did not commit to supporting Schumer, saying, “I got to know my options.”

“I’m looking for a person that’s going to be committed to Mississippi and rural voices,” Colom told Sanders Townsend. “If you’re able to listen to those voices and make sure that you understand their needs and putting them in position to be successful, then that’s the type of leadership I want.”

Colom beat Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) in an upset victory that took more than a week after the election to call. Mississippi is a deep-red state that President Trump won by nearly 23 points in 2024, and voters there have not elected a Democrat for U.S. Senate since 1982.

The senator-elect and the incumbent have history: Former President Biden nominated Colom to be a federal judge, but Hyde-Smith used her ability as his home-state senator to block him from receiving a confirmation hearing. Years later, Colom has defeated Hyde-Smith but said that past experience was not a factor in deciding to challenge her for U.S. Senate.

“I’m a Christian. I mean, I forgive her,” Colom said. “It’s not good for the soul to hold, you know, anger and feelings like that toward somebody.”

Colom said he spoke to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who will soon be his partner in the Senate, and that the two pledged to work together and disagree respectfully.

“He said, ‘If we disagree, we’re going to be respectful about it.’ And you know, we may not agree on everything, but when we disagree, we’ll be respectful,” Colom said. “We’re not a state that can get too bogged down in partisan food fights. We have to be a state that’s focused on delivering for Mississippi.”