Trump Presses Voters to Protect GOP Senate Seat

At Crossroads Arena in Corinth, Mississippi, on Oct. 26, Democrat Scott Colom told people gathered for a Trump rally that they deserved a senator who would listen. “They actually deserve a senator that will listen to them, that actually cares about what they think, actually cares about what they're going through,” Colom said before President Donald Trump arrived. Colom, a local prosecutor challenging Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, had come to hear Trump supporters.

The rally put the machinery of national politics on display: a president urging voters to protect a senator’s seat, while a challenger tried to speak with people waiting to hear the president. Colom’s spokesperson later posted a photo on X, saying Colom had “chatted with folks in line for the Trump rally because Scott is running to represent ALL Mississippians.”

A seat the president says he can’t risk

Trump told the crowd he was there to support Hyde-Smith and spur Republican turnout. “I'm here because Cindy's doing great, but I just got to make sure. I can't take a chance,” he said, his voice audibly hoarse. Election Day was seven days away.

Hyde-Smith was seeking her second full term and faced what the article described as a surprisingly stiff challenge from Colom. Mississippi is among the country’s most reliably Republican states. Bloomberg reported that Trump carried Mississippi by nearly 23 percentage points in 2024; the Associated Press report said Hyde-Smith remained the favorite in a state Trump had won three times by an average of nearly 20 percentage points.

Colom would be Mississippi’s first Black senator since post-Civil War Reconstruction if elected. Mississippi had not elected a new Democratic senator since 1947, and Democrats last won a Senate race there when John Stennis, described in the report as a onetime segregationist, won his final reelection in 1982. Those are the boundaries of the contest: a challenger seeking a historic breakthrough, against a senator backed by a president campaigning in a state his party has repeatedly carried.

Trump later called Colom a “Marxist radical,” “fake” and a “shameless phony who pretends to be a moderate.” The labels came from the president as he campaigned to keep Hyde-Smith in office.

Prices, PAC money and the campaign pitch

Colom sought to capitalize on inflation, Trump’s lagging popularity and Hyde-Smith’s mistakes. He had outpaced Hyde-Smith in fundraising since launching his campaign the previous year. An ad that drew national attention used Hyde-Smith’s comment dismissing beef prices, which had risen amid Trump’s tariffs and fuel spikes resulting from the Iran conflict.

In the ad, Hyde-Smith said consumers “have so many other proteins to choose from.” Characters and Colom then said Mississippi should “pick another senator instead.” The Senate Democrats’ super PAC entered the contest late with a $1.2 million investment. The campaign’s argument about grocery costs and the money backing the race arrived inside the same electoral contest, where the choices were presented through candidates, ads and party organizations.

More than 30 million people had already cast ballots, according to the Associated Press report. Democrats were seeking to end Republicans’ narrow House majority, take a Senate majority once considered secure for Republicans and end the party’s national advantage in state capitals. The rally was part of Trump’s closing midterm campaign blitz, with planned stops in Texas, South Carolina and Iowa, states he won comfortably in 2024.

The wider campaign circuit

Other candidates made their own appeals across the country. Former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in Wisconsin with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who faced Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Trump ally, for governor. At a “Women for Crowley” rally, Harris said: “This is a tight race because the stakes are so high.” Crowley would be the state’s first Black governor if elected.

Vice President JD Vance campaigned in Kansas for Sen. Roger Marshall, who faced Democratic nominee and pastor Adam Hamilton. Hundreds gathered at a steel-fabricating company warehouse in north Topeka. Marshall told them Trump was on the ballot even if his name did not appear, arguing Democrats would thwart his agenda if they won control of Congress. “Democrats are coming out like it's a presidential year,” he said, urging Republicans to match their energy.

Back in Mississippi, Trump’s own explanation for being there was simpler: “I can't take a chance.” The seat, the party and the campaign apparatus were the stakes he put before the crowd.