Mississippi Senate Race: Independent Candidate Claims He Divided Republican Vote
Ty Pinkins received about 20,000 votes in the close contest, which he says came primarily from counties with small Black populations.
By Samuel Hayes ·
Scott Colom won the Mississippi Senate seat on Tuesday, becoming the state's first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction.
The victory came more than a week after Election Day due to a tight count. Independent candidate Ty Pinkins finished third on the ballot with approximately 20,000 votes.
Pinkins ran alongside incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith and Colom. He admitted he knew he had no chance of winning but stayed in the race to influence the outcome.
In an interview the day after the election, Pinkins said he intentionally avoided campaigning in majority-Black areas. He stated that a poll indicated 70% of his supporters would be disgruntled Republicans.
“The portion of the vote that I drew, and people were concerned about splitting the Black vote, what I actually did was split the Republican vote,” Pinkins said.
He listed Harrison, DeSoto, Rankin, Jackson, Hancock, Madison, Jones, Pearl River, and Lamar counties as the sources of most of his support. Those counties have Black populations ranging from 10% to 16%.
Colom campaigned across the state during the race. Pinkins noted that voters have the freedom to choose whomever they want in a democracy.
