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IrelandColom credits Mississippi for his run, urges investment in South
The Root's interview excerpt shows the senator-elect redirecting questions about Schumer's role toward future support for Southern campaigns.
The Root
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 55,771 views a day, 11 times a normal first day on this channel (5,006).
Sen.-Elect Scott Colom: Democrats Need to Invest in the South | The Root
Next story: The Root reaches 310,000 subscribers amid Ole Miss coverage
Asked what Chuck Schumer and the national Democratic campaign apparatus contributed to his Senate campaign, Scott Colom would rather discuss where the party puts its resources next.
"The people of Mississippi recruited me," the senator-elect tells Symone Sanders Townsend in an MS NOW interview excerpt posted by The Root. He rejects the idea that Schumer persuaded him to run, crediting encouragement from Mississippians, including Congressman Bennie Thompson, Derrick Johnson and local Republican friends. He also describes consulting national figures such as Raphael Warnock.
Sanders Townsend presses the practical question: if national Democrats neither recruited him nor committed substantial funding, what exactly was their role? Colom stops short of a detailed accounting. "I have to be careful about talking too much about the past," he says.
His argument is that winning with limited resources should encourage more investment, not make Southern candidates an afterthought. He names Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama as places where Democrats should compete and says he wants to help lead that effort.
The excerpt drew roughly 24,000 views in seven hours, already well beyond The Root's usual full-day Shorts audience of about 5,000.
Colom's message is regional rather than limited to his own victory: "The South matters. We can win in the South."
A Democratic U.S. senator from New York who leads the Senate Democratic Caucus. He has served as Senate minority leader since 2025.
More on Wikipedia ›Mississippi’s Democratic U.S. senator-elect, a lawyer who has served as district attorney for the state’s 16th Judicial District since 2016.
More on Wikipedia ›An American political strategist and commentator who hosts MS NOW’s The Weeknight. She was national press secretary for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.
More on Wikipedia ›A Democrat who has represented Mississippi’s 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House since 1993. He previously chaired the House Homeland Security Committee.
More on Wikipedia ›A Democratic U.S. senator from Georgia since 2021 and a Baptist minister. He has been senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church since 2005.
More on Wikipedia ›Published on Trari
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- Channel
- The Root
- Subscribers
- 313,000 ▲ 25,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 11,332,897
- Channel views, pace per day
- 2,164,480 (on a normal day: 988,019)
- Video published
- November 13, 2026
- Video views so far
- 24,123 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 55,771
The numbers
The interview excerpt passed The Root's usual first-day Shorts audience well before completing its first day.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which state does Raphael Warnock represent in the U.S. Senate?
Warnock has represented Georgia in the Senate since 2021.