Mississippi Independent Ty Pinkins claims he split the Republican vote
The third-party candidate drew roughly 20,000 ballots from counties with small Black populations, a strategy he says helped Democrat Scott Colom win the Senate seat.
By Simon Bennett ·
Tupelo, Miss., is a city of roughly 50,000 people, but its local politics recently drew national attention. Independent Senate candidate Ty Pinkins says he stayed in the race with a specific goal: to elect Mississippi’s first Black U.S. Senator since Reconstruction.
The ballot featured three choices. Incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, Democrat Scott Colom, and Pinkins as the independent option. About 20,000 voters chose Pinkins. That number was large enough to sway the outcome in either direction. The race remained too close to call for over a week after Election Day. Colom finally secured the seat in an official announcement.
Pinkins told WTVA on the day after the election that he knew he would not win. He argued that voters have the freedom to choose any candidate in a democracy. A poll he cited indicated that 70% of his supporters were disgruntled Republicans.
“Here is what needs to be shared. 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 source of most his votes.
Those nine counties have Black populations ranging from 10% to 16%. Pinkins said he deliberately did not campaign in the Mississippi Delta, a majority-Black region. Meanwhile, Colom campaigned across the state. Pinkins has made national headlines despite losing the election.
Colom now holds the Senate seat. He will be the first Black U.S. senator from Mississippi since the Reconstruction era.
