Sen.-elect Scott Colom (D-MS) said he is not yet prepared to make a decision between supporting Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) in their race to lead the Democratic caucus next year.
“I had a senator that I developed a relationship with during my campaign suggesting me to be in listening mode,” Colom said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “They said, ‘Listen, that’s how you got elected. You were known as a listener, and in this moment, you need to listen to your colleagues, the ones that you know, the ones that you don’t know well. Listen to them. Understand what the needs of the caucus are, who has the ability to lead.’ And so that’s what I’m going to do.”
Van Hollen announced he would be running to challenge Schumer in the race to be the Senate Majority Leader at the helm of the Democratic caucus in 2027, saying Democrats “need new leadership” to usher in Democrats’ affordability and accountability playbook they ran on in the 2026 elections.
Several Senators-elect have vocally supported Van Hollen or called for new leadership in the Senate, bucking Schumer. But Colom is one of several incoming freshman senators who have remained noncommittal in the race. He insisted that he is in “listening mode” headed into the majority leader race.
“I don’t know either one of them that well, so I’m going to listen to what other people tell me about them, and I’m going to figure out what are the things that people are doing well in leadership. What are the things they’re not doing well, and find out how we can work together to achieve results,” Colom said.
He added that he focused on delivering results for his state of Mississippi, where he mounted a major upset victory, defeating incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) by a 0.78% margin of the vote as 99% of the vote is counted, according to the Associated Press.
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Colom said Sunday that he would “work with anyone to deliver for” Mississippi, refusing to rule out voting for either of the candidates running.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure we are a party that delivers for the Deep South, and that we have a voice at the table that allows us to be productive,” Colom said.