Every Sunday at church, Pauline Rogers remembers someone in the little broom closet registering people to vote in rural Vancleave, Mississippi. Back then, conversations about voting were like “brushing your teeth, washing your face, or making your bed.”
Everyone knew it was their duty, the 66-year-old recalled.
“There were clerks that actually kept records in these little green books that I still own today,” she said. “They kept up with our birthday. The pastor or the clerk would tell you, “You’re 18 tomorrow. You need to go to the courthouse and register to vote.’”
Now living in the state’s capital city of Jackson, Rogers said she usually votes on issues, but sometimes, as with former President Barack Obama, race supersedes other factors. With the election a day away, she sees one particular seat as an opportunity to change her state’s trajectory.
On Nov. 3, voters in the Magnolia State could elect their first Black U.S. senator in modern history. Incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith is facing off against Democrat Scott Colom and independent Ty Pinkins. Capital B reached out to all candidates, but only Pinkins responded.
What was expected to be an easy Republican win has become a competitive race. Across the state, Black voters are energized and many others, who are frustrated with the Republican Party, are considering voting independent. While they may disagree on candidates, they all agreed that this is a chance to move the state forward and one where they lead the narrative.
“We have been overlooked for so many years from rhetoric that people think, ‘These people don’t wear shoes or we’re backwards,’ but we are making progress, and we are worth investing in,” one voter said.
“It’s about changing the narrative of the reality of what it’s actually like to live in Mississippi. People need to see us in a different light,” another said.
More than 56,000 absentee ballots have already been cast, twice as many as in 2022. Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney from Columbus, is making waves with popular ads and endorsements from Obama, President Bill Clinton, and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Experts say his rise has put Republicans on notice, prompting President Donald Trump to campaign for Hyde-Smith in Corinth, a majority-white city. One poll shows Colom just 4 points behind the incumbent. Some residents have urged Pinkins to drop out, arguing that he’s trying to split the votes.
Pinkins, a 52-year-old military veteran, made it clear that he won’t.
“I don’t look at it from a negative perspective,” the former Democrat said. “We live in a country where everyone has the freedom to speak their voice, to say what they mean, and that freedom to speak is on steroids in an election campaign.”
For Rogers, choosing Colom is a no-brainer.
The decision is both historical and issues-based. She sees no policy from Hyde-Smith, 67, that has benefitted Mississippians. She also can’t separate the senator from her racist remarks. In 2018, during the midterm election, she said, if invited, she’d be on the front row of “a public hanging.” Hyde-Smith later apologized to “anyone offended” by her comments, stating “there was no ill will, no intent whatsoever.”
“We still got unresolved lynchings in this state currently,” Rogers said, referencing the death of Nolan Wells, the college student whose body was found on Horn Island during the July 4 weekend. There’s also the case of Trey Reed, a student who was found hanging from a tree on his college campus in Cleveland.
“You want me to believe you changed, and here we are in this country when DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] has been dismantled. Education is dismantled. Feeding programs are dismantled. Roe v. Wade, the woman’s decision over her body, has been dismantled,” Rogers said. “You can’t undo that.”
On her 60-mile commute from Clarksdale to Greenwood, Amber Stasher saw a Hyde-Smith campaign sign on a former plantation, which is now a family farm. It’s symbolic, she says, of Hyde-Smith’s 2018 statement. For the Clarksdale native, the senator has done nothing for the Mississippi Delta. From aging buildings and limited food options to the lack of mental health resources and jobs, she said, “You have to be blind not to see it.”
The 27-year-old soon-to-be life insurance agent said residents deserve better.
“Everything trickles down from the top,” she said. “We thought that we made progress, but Trump was a wake-up call. It’s real work that we have to do now.”
Despite renewed energy, obstacles still lie ahead
Though painted as a ruby-red state, Mississippi Democrats have made gains in recent elections.
Democrat Mike Espy, the nation’s first Black U.S. secretary of agriculture and the state’s first Black member of Congress post-Reconstruction, narrowly lost to Hyde-Smith in 2018 and again in 2020. Black voters backed Espy. White voters secured Hyde-Smith’s win.
In 2023, white Democrat Brandon Presley only lost by 26,000 votes to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, in what was the closest governor’s race in decades. Last year, the Democrats broke the Republicans’ supermajority in the state Senate.
For longtime Democratic strategist Pam Shaw, these signs mean flipping the state blue is possible. The obstacles: voters’ disbelief in electing a Democrat, weak political infrastructure, and insufficient investment in Democratic leadership. But this year, Colom’s campaign has gotten a boost from national party leaders and donors across the country.
Emmitt Riley III, a political scientist and professor at the University of the South, said outdated models of organizing, especially in rural areas, can also be roadblocks. On a recent visit, the Mississippi Delta native heard firsthand about the need for fresh strategies.
“The traditional strategy has been, ‘We’re going to throw a fish fry. We’re going to have a rally. We’re going to knock on a few doors,’ and that’s it. And then Election Day, we may have a van taking people to the polls,” he said. “Those strategies are not going to bode well for Mississippi.”
Voters may be motivated by outrage over deaths like Wells and baby Kohen Wiley, and the erosion of voting rights. If Colom wins, it could signal widespread frustration with Trump-aligned Republicans, issues around the economy, and a historic turnout across racial lines.
“The question becomes: Do the white voters in Mississippi, are they willing to starve themselves in an effort to hold on to voting for a Republican candidate?” Riley said.
Why voters are fired up
Waynesboro resident Annita Bonner felt this election was promising when people reached out to her to ask her which candidate to vote for. For years, she’s used Facebook to break down politics on her Facebook video series Lips, Tips, and Politics.
Bonner, who ran for the Mississippi House of Representatives in 2023, said Colom’s youth and relatable ads like “Pick Another Senator” have excited voters. Still, turnout remains crucial.
“Signs do not vote. These commercials do not vote,” the 47-year-old said. “We really won’t know how effective they are until the day people actually get out to the polls.”
Usually, Starkville resident Vince Davis, 62, doesn’t voice his political opinions on social media. But he said he felt Hyde-Smith isn’t looking out for everybody’s best interest.
“I’ve known Scott for about a good 10 years now. If he wins, he’s gonna be the one that’s grinding day and night for Mississippi, all of Mississippi,” Davis said. “I’m really big on mentoring the young adults, and we cross paths quite often because he’s doing the same thing. He’s our guy.”
Not everyone is for a Democratic or Republican candidate. More than 47% of registered voters in Mississippi are Independent.
Zach Servis, a 28-year-old musician, is one of them. He grew up as a conservative Republican, moving from California to Texas before his family settled in Jackson when he was a teenager. He worked in youth ministry and wanted to make a difference in children’s lives.
He felt the two-party system was broken, so last year he ran for mayor as one of the two white candidates and switched to independent. He’s also the campaign manager for Bennie Foster, a Black man who is running as an independent against incumbent U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and Republican Ron Eller in the 2nd Congressional District.
Even as an independent, Servis said he hears voters across the spectrum want change, but many fear breaking tradition by switching party allegiances.
“Y’all are all afraid of the same thing, and you don’t realize that you’re shooting yourself in the foot because you keep voting for the same people that you know suck at their jobs,” Servis said. “When we actually start living by faith and we start practicing what we claim to preach, whether an independent wins or not, the Kingdom of God will win, and we’ll see radical transformation anyway.”
For Rogers, a “rainbow Mississippi,” meaning diverse representation in local, state, and federal positions who work together for the people is the future she wants to see.
“I’m a church girl. It’s like the Scripture say, it tells us to send portions to whom nothing is prepared. That is a line for every political candidate,” she added. “We ain’t asking you to send the government’s whole check to Mississippi. But what we are asking you is to send portions so we can house people, feed people, clothe people and have good infrastructure and clean air.”
