The Mississippi Democrat went against his campaign team’s advice and personally invited the former vice president to the state ahead of his historic Senate victory.
Mississippi Senator- elect Scott Colom went against the advice of his own campaign team to bring former Vice President Kamala Harris to Mississippi during the 2026 midterm campaign, according to a report by The Washington Sun.
Two Democrats familiar with the events told the publication that Colom’s advisers tried to prevent him from inviting Harris to campaign in the state. Scott Colom reportedly disregarded their objections, contacted Harris directly and asked her to join him on the campaign trail. The disagreement highlights the divisions surrounding Harris’ continued influence within the Democratic Party, even as some candidates and political advisers remain uncertain about the value of associating with her following her 2024 presidential election loss.
Colom later explained that bringing Kamala Harris to Mississippi helped attract media attention to an issue he wanted voters to consider: the state’s struggling rural hospital infrastructure. In an interview with CNN in late October, he described why he wanted the former vice president at a hospital event.
“Now if I would have done a press conference outside of the hospital by myself, no reporters would have showed up,” Colom said. “So I brought Vice President Harris down to bring attention to the issue.” Representatives for Scott Colom did not immediately respond to The Washington Sun’s request for comment about the reported objections from his advisers.
Harris campaigned in seven states ahead of Election Day, including traditional Republican strongholds such as Mississippi, as well as battleground states Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. She also supported Democratic Senate candidates Roy Cooper, James Talarico and Abdul El-Sayed through campaign appearances and fundraising efforts. Some of her allies pointed to the crowds and attention she attracted as evidence that she remains an influential Democratic campaign surrogate.
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