Scott Colom Bio: Age, Height, Wife Nadia Colom, Career, Mississippi Senate 2026, Net Worth & Facts

Scott Colom is a Mississippi district attorney who came closer than any Democrat in decades to winning a U.S. Senate seat in one of the reddest states in America. On November 3, 2026, Colom ran against Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith and, days later, still led by roughly 2,500 votes as county officials counted affidavit and mail-in ballots. If the lead holds, he will become the first Black senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction and the first Democrat elected to the Senate from the state since 1982.

Colom’s story is not a typical political rise. He is the son of a prominent trial lawyer and a pioneering judge, a former schoolteacher in Guyana, a onetime justice court judge at 28, and a prosecutor who helped free a man from death row. This biography covers his age, wife Nadia Colom, family, legal career, the Hyde-Smith blue-slip fight, the 2026 Senate race, his net worth, quotes, and the controversies that turned a local prosecutor into a national figure.

Quick Facts

Readers searching for Cindy Hyde-Smith, Ty Pinkins, Tate Reeves, Bennie Thompson, Roger Wicker, Eddie Lee Howard, Mike Espy, and Blanche Bruce often find Colom after the 2026 midterms. His race is usually discussed alongside the broader fight for control of the Senate.

Early Life & Education

Scott Winston Colom was born on December 24, 1982, in Columbus, Mississippi. His father, Wilbur Colom, is a well-known trial lawyer who was the Republican nominee for state treasurer in 1987. His mother, Dorothy Colom, was the first Black person elected to a chancery judgeship in their district. Dinner-table conversations in the Colom house were about law, politics, and the practical business of representing people who could not afford a lawyer.

Colom graduated from Millsaps College in Jackson in 2005 with a double major in English and history. Before law school, he spent a year teaching in Guyana — an experience he rarely mentions on the campaign trail but one that shaped his interest in public service. He then earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2009.

He returned to Mississippi rather than staying in a bigger legal market. That choice defined his career: public interest law first, then local office, then district attorney, then a Senate race that most national Democrats had written off.

Career Journey

Public Interest Lawyer and Local Judge

After law school, Colom worked as a staff lawyer at the Mississippi Center for Justice, a public interest firm, from 2009 to 2011. He then managed the Colom Law Firm while holding a series of part-time public offices. In 2011, he was appointed the youngest and first Black justice court judge in Lowndes County history at age 28. From 2012 to 2013 he also served as a municipal court judge in Aberdeen and as interim justice court judge in Lowndes County.

From 2013 to 2016, he was the part-time city prosecutor in Columbus, becoming the city’s first Black city prosecutor. The job put him in court every week and taught him how the criminal justice system actually works — not the version on television, but the version where paperwork, jail space, and public defenders decide outcomes.

District Attorney for the 16th Judicial District

In 2015, Colom ran for district attorney of Mississippi’s 16th Judicial District, covering Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee, and Oktibbeha counties. He defeated Forrest Allgood, who had held the office for nearly 30 years. Colom was sworn in on January 4, 2016, becoming the first Black elected district attorney for the 16th Circuit and the first Black elected district attorney of a majority-white voting district in Mississippi history.

He ran unopposed in 2019 and was reelected. In 2023 he was unopposed in the Democratic primary and won the general election with more than 56 percent of the vote.

His most celebrated case did not involve a conviction. In 2012, he represented Taylor Bell, a high school student disciplined for posting a rap song on Facebook that criticized two coaches. A federal district court dismissed the challenge, and a Fifth Circuit panel initially reversed, finding that punishing a student for purely off-campus speech violated the First Amendment. The full circuit later reheard the case en banc and upheld the school’s discipline. Colom lost that one, but the case made him known in legal circles as a lawyer willing to take unpopular free-speech positions.

Then came Eddie Lee Howard. Howard had spent 23 years on death row for a murder conviction built largely on discredited bite-mark evidence. Through Colom’s efforts, Howard was exonerated in 2021. The case became a national example of how forensic science can go wrong and how prosecutors can correct it.

The Federal Judgeship That Was Blocked

In October 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Colom to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Congressman Bennie Thompson had recommended him, and he had unusual bipartisan support: Senator Roger Wicker returned his blue slip, and former Republican governors Phil Bryant and Haley Barbour backed him.

Cindy Hyde-Smith did not return hers. In April 2023, she effectively blocked the nomination, citing allegations that Colom supported letting transgender students play girls’ and women’s sports and that he had received money from a PAC funded by George Soros. Colom wrote her a letter disputing both claims, saying he never requested or received the PAC money in his 2019 race and had never taken a position on transgender athletes. He noted that he had signed a letter with other district attorneys opposing the criminalization of gender-affirming surgery, which is not the same thing. His nomination was returned to the president in January 2024.

The episode became the origin story of the 2026 Senate race. Colom was, quite literally, running against the senator who had blocked his judicial career.

2026 Senate Campaign

In September 2025, Colom announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. He defeated Priscilla Williams-Till and Albert Littell in the March 10, 2026, primary with about 73 percent of the vote. In the general election he faced Hyde-Smith and independent Ty Pinkins, the Democratic Party’s previous Senate nominee.

Almost no one gave him a chance. Mississippi is a red state, Democrats had not won a Senate race there since 1982, and Hyde-Smith had won twice before. But the race tightened through the fall as affordability became the dominant issue. Colom campaigned on beef prices, wages, rural hospitals, and health care, and he tied Hyde-Smith to Trump’s tariff policies and to the cost of groceries.

His defining moment was an ad called “Pick another protein.” Hyde-Smith, a cattle farmer and former agriculture commissioner, had said in February 2026 that consumers upset about beef prices had “so many proteins to choose from.” Colom’s campaign turned the remark into a viral spot featuring shoppers and families cooking beef, ending with a voter saying he would rather “pick another senator.” Even Bill Clinton joked about it on the trail.

On election night, the race was too close to call. By November 6, Colom led by about 2,500 votes with thousands of affidavit and mail-in ballots still being counted. Mississippi has no recount mechanism, and the state must certify results by November 13, 2026. Lawyers for both campaigns descended on the state, with Hyde-Smith’s team asking officials to separate affidavit ballots and Colom’s team arguing that doing so would be illegal.

Career Stats

• 2011: Appointed the youngest and first Black justice court judge in Lowndes County history at age 28
• 2013–2016: Part-time city prosecutor in Columbus, the city’s first Black city prosecutor
• 2015: Defeated a nearly 30-year incumbent to become district attorney
• 2019: Reelected district attorney unopposed
• 2021: Helped exonerate Eddie Lee Howard after 23 years on death row
• 2023: Reelected district attorney with more than 56% of the vote
• 2026 primary: Won the Democratic Senate nomination with about 73%
• 2026 general: Led Hyde-Smith by roughly 2,500 votes as counting continued

Personal Life

Colom is married to Nadia Colom, and the couple has two daughters. The family lives in Columbus, where Colom grew up and where his father built his law practice. Nadia has appeared at campaign events and rallies but has kept a low public profile, and the couple does not post much about their children.

• Wife: Nadia Colom
• Children: Two daughters
• Father: Wilbur Colom, a lawyer and the 1987 Republican nominee for Mississippi state treasurer
• Mother: Dorothy Colom, the first Black person elected to a chancery judgeship in their district
• Residence: Columbus, Mississippi

Dating History and Affairs

There is no public dating history or relationship scandal attached to Scott Colom. He married Nadia Colom, and they have two daughters. His family life has stayed out of the tabloids even as his Senate race became a national story.

The one personal controversy that did surface was a 2001 arrest report from his senior year of high school. Colom’s explanation was brief: he and a friend stayed out past curfew. The episode became a campaign talking point only because Hyde-Smith’s team promoted it in the final weeks of the race.

Controversies

The Hyde-Smith blue slip. Colom’s blocked judicial nomination is the central grievance of his political career. Hyde-Smith cited his alleged support for transgender athletes and a Soros-linked PAC contribution. Colom denied both characterizations, and his nomination had backing from Wicker, Thompson, Bryant, and Barbour. The dispute turned a routine judicial confirmation into a proxy fight over race, ideology, and Senate power.

The AI deepfake ad. In October 2026, Colom’s campaign posted an AI-generated video showing Hyde-Smith running from reporters outside the U.S. Capitol. The ad said it was “based on a true story” but did not disclose that it used artificial intelligence. The Mississippi Republican Party asked Attorney General Lynn Fitch to investigate, arguing the ad may have violated a 2024 state law requiring disclaimers on realistic AI-generated political content. Colom’s campaign did not back down, and the dispute became a national story about AI and elections.

The mugshot website. Hyde-Smith’s campaign launched a website designed to look like Colom’s campaign site, complete with a pixelated arrest photo from 2001 and an arrest report that misspelled his name. Colom called it an attempt to “divide and distract.” The Clarion Ledger could not independently verify the authenticity of the mugshot or the report. The episode was widely criticized as one of the low points of the race.

The Soros attack. Republicans repeatedly described Colom as a “Soros-funded prosecutor.” Colom said he never requested the money, did not know it would be contributed, and did not receive it during his 2019 reelection. The attack nonetheless became a staple of Hyde-Smith’s messaging and of her campaign manager’s statements.

The affidavit ballot fight. After Election Day, Hyde-Smith’s lawyers asked county officials to separate affidavit ballots, while Colom’s lawyers argued that the move was illegal and that every legally cast vote should be counted. The standoff put Mississippi’s election machinery under a national microscope and set up a possible legal battle before the November 13 certification deadline.

Awards & Achievements

• First Black elected district attorney for Mississippi’s 16th Circuit
• First Black elected district attorney of a majority-white voting district in Mississippi history
• Helped exonerate Eddie Lee Howard after 23 years on death row (2021)
• Youngest and first Black justice court judge in Lowndes County history
• Bipartisan support for his 2022 federal judicial nomination, including from Senator Roger Wicker
• Won the 2026 Democratic Senate primary with about 73 percent of the vote
• Turned a race rated safely Republican into a national toss-up

Physical Statistics

• Height: Not publicly disclosed
• Weight: Not publicly disclosed
• Hair Color: Black
• Eye Color: Brown
• Build: Average
• Style: Dark suits and ties in court, open-collar shirts and boots on the campaign trail

Quotes

“I am very happy with where we stand. I’m confident once the process plays out, where we are, where the ballots are, we’re gonna win.”

Scott Colom, comments during the vote count, November 2026, via BBC News

“She’s still our senator. Where is she? Why is she not doing any interviews? Why can’t she explain what her pathway to success is?”

Scott Colom, speaking in Jackson, November 2026, via the Associated Press

Favorites

• Favorite place: Columbus, Mississippi, where he grew up
• Favorite subject: History and English, the fields he studied at Millsaps
• Favorite part of the job: Courtroom work and community meetings
• Favorite campaign style: Small-town stops and county fairs
• Favorite downtime: Time with his wife and two daughters

Earnings

Scott Colom’s net worth has not been publicly disclosed. Any specific number circulating online is unverified. His income has come from public salaries as a district attorney and part-time judge, along with his share of the Colom Law Firm. He has not released a personal financial statement beyond what Mississippi ethics rules and federal campaign law require.

His 2026 Senate campaign raised money from individual donors and national Democratic groups. Campaign funds are not personal income, and the race’s heavy spending — including outside ads and legal fees — does not change his personal finances.

Interesting Facts

• He taught school in Guyana for a year before law school.
• He became a justice court judge at 28, the youngest in Lowndes County history.
• He was the first Black city prosecutor in Columbus.
• He helped free a man who had spent 23 years on death row.
• His father was the Republican nominee for state treasurer in 1987.
• His “Pick another protein” ad became one of the most viral spots of 2026.
• Mississippi has no recount law, which made the close race even more tense.

Did You Know Already?

• Mississippi has not elected a Democratic senator since 1982.
• The last Black senator from Mississippi was Blanche Bruce, elected in 1874.
• Colom won a majority-white district as a Black Democrat in 2015.
• He was blocked from a federal judgeship by the woman he later ran against.
• He led by about 2,500 votes with the count still underway in November 2026.
• The state’s certification deadline was November 13, 2026.

Social Media Links

• Official campaign website: scottcolom.com
• District attorney office: da16th.com
• Federal Election Commission profile: fec.gov candidate page

Note: We only list verified official pages. Fan, parody, or unverified social accounts are intentionally left out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Scott Colom’s career has been a series of uphill fights: a Black prosecutor in a majority-white district, a reformer in a state with a long history of racial division, a judicial nominee blocked by his own senator, and a Senate candidate given almost no chance. Whether or not the final ballots put him in Washington, his 2026 campaign proved that Mississippi’s politics are more fluid than the national map suggests — and that a local prosecutor with a viral ad and a good story can force the country to pay attention.

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