Sen.-elect Scott Colom (D-MS) this week downplayed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) influence in his Mississippi race, as the upper chamber’s top Democrat faces growing turmoil within his ranks.
Colom’s win against Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) was arguably the biggest surprise of the midterm elections.
Last week, the New York Times interviewed Schumer for an article that credited him with recruiting Colom. But Colom said in an interview that aired Thursday that Schumer did not recruit him.
“He did initially understand that our party has to look south for future leadership,” Colom told MS Now. “I think that it’s not accurate to say he recruited me, though.
“I push back on the idea that I was recruited, not as a disrespect to anybody, but just as an acknowledgment that the people of Mississippi are the folks that deserve the credit,” Colom continued.
The article last weekend framed the race differently.
“In a race that was seen by many as a pipe dream, Mr. Schumer recruited Scott Colom, a Black prosecutor, to oppose Senator Cindy Hyde Smith, the Republican incumbent, hosting Mr. Colom and his father, a well-known Mississippi Republican, for lunch in Brooklyn,” the outlet wrote.
Schumer’s hold over Democrats in the upper chamber is facing increasing challenges, due in part to a wave of socialists and more progressive senator-elects who question the establishment, as well as new members such as Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton (D-KS), a more moderate lawmaker, who has nonetheless expressed a preference for change.
But while Schumer has expressed confidence he holds sufficient support within his caucus to remain Democratic leader when his party takes the majority in January, Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-MD) announcement Thursday evening he would also seek the role marks a growing divide in the upper chamber.
“It’s now on us to meet this moment, and to do that we need new leadership,” Van Hollen said. “This is not about any one person — it’s about answering the call of the American people.