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\n

National Democrats finally went into Mississippi this week, putting over $1 million behind<\/u><\/a> Scott Colom\u2018s campaign to unseat Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.<\/p>\n

To the state\u2019s most prominent Democrat, it was welcome \u2014 but too late.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything is appreciated, and I don\u2019t want to seem like people here are not appreciative. But you know, we\u2019ve been singing this song for almost a year,\u201d Rep. Bennie Thompson said in an interview. \u201cScott is a quality candidate and he could\u2019ve benefited from early recognition from the Senate Majority PAC and others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson\u2019s sentiments reflect ongoing frustration among some Democrats who have been beating the drum for more national investment in Black candidates in races once seen as long shots that are now anything but.<\/p>\n

\u201cMississippi people are ready for a new direction. They\u2019re ready to fire Cindy Hyde-Smith. They want somebody that\u2019s going to actually look out for our state, and it\u2019s great that the country is starting to realize that,\u201d Colom said in an interview.<\/p>\n

The sentiments were also echoed by Florida Democrat Angie Nixon, who is on her own quest to defeat incumbent GOP Sen. Ashley Moody.<\/p>\n

Nixon, referring more broadly to national Democratic donors, said the party needs to do more in her state, and stat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can win. I\u2019m going to win. We just need people to really lean into this moment right now,\u201d she told Dasha Burns in the latest episode of The Conversation<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Neither the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee nor Senate Majority PAC has publicly announced a Florida television buy on her behalf, but Nixon was clear that the DSCC has been \u201cvery helpful\u201d recently, opening up doors to connect her with donors and having her participate in fundraisers with DSCC head Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are now seeing that this seat is actually winnable,\u201d Nixon said.<\/p>\n

Colom has also been a part of DSCC fundraisers and Schumer has directed donors to him.<\/p>\n

The Senate Majority PAC declined to comment. DSCC spokesperson Maeve Coyle said Nixon and Colom are running \u201cinspiring and energetic campaigns\u201d and that her group is \u201ccommitted to expanding the map as much as possible\u201d despite limited resources and a flood of Republican money.<\/p>\n

But Thompson argued that party leaders need to move much faster in the future to invest early in strong candidates who can mobilize the large populations of Black voters in Southern states that others deem unwinnable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe South in general is ripe for Democrats, but it has to be a sustained investment,\u201d he said. \u201cGiven the loyalty that the African American population gives to the Democratic Party, it is just an ideal opportunity to grow the party and ultimately get some Democrats elected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut,\u201d he added, \u201cthat engagement can\u2019t come two weeks or less before the general election.\u201d<\/p>\n

What else we\u2019re watching:\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 DEMOCRATS\u2019 LOOMING TRADE BATTLE:\u00a0<\/b>Cracks in Democrats\u2019 trade policy<\/u><\/a> are starting to emerge within the party, even as candidates are presenting a united front on repealing Trump\u2019s tariffs on the campaign trail. The simmering debate over how far to reject Trump\u2019s trade agenda cuts across geography and ideology. It\u2019s likely to bubble into public view in the coming months as Democrats prepare to assume more power in Congress and jump into the wide-open upcoming presidential primary.<\/p>\n

\u2014 DEMS WANT MULLIN IN HOTSEAT<\/b>: A top priority for Democrats if they get more power in Congress in November: Forcing the Trump administration\u2019s controversial and unpopular immigration crackdown back in the headlines<\/u><\/a>. And one of the people they plan to go after hard is Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin<\/b> \u2014 the former lawmaker who was brought into the role in part because he was seen as someone who could play well with Congress, unlike former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem<\/b>. A House Democratic aide said that committees plan to look at how DHS under Mullin has failed to deploy body cameras to many immigration agents, allowed dismal conditions at immigration facilities and failed to cooperate with the department\u2019s Inspector General.<\/p>\n

Adam Wren, Daniel Desrochers and Eric Bazail-Eimil contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

National Democrats finally went into Mississippi this week, putting over $1 million behind Scott Colom\u2018s campaign to unseat Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. To the state\u2019s most prominent Democrat, it was welcome \u2014 but too late. \u201cAnything is appreciated, and I don\u2019t want to seem like people here are not appreciative. But you know, we\u2019ve been singing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27603\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}