Democratic challenger Scott Colom outraised Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith in the second quarter of 2026, but he has brought in less than half of the incumbent’s fundraising total throughout the campaign season.
Colom, the 16th Circuit district attorney from Columbus, raised about $765,553 since April 1, with 75% of those contributions coming from individuals. About $85,500 came from political action committees.
Among individual donations are Dennis Erby, of Columbus, who donated $250 this quarter and $1,750 to Colom’s campaign in total and District 16 Sen. Angela Turner-Ford (D-West Point), who donated $100 this quarter and $1,100 to date.
Overall, Colom has raised more than $2.3 million since announcing his candidacy in September. He has spent about $1.5 million and had about $847,045 on hand at the end of the reporting period.
Hyde-Smith pulled in about $431,280 since April 1, nearly 33% of that coming from transfers from her victory fund – a joint fundraising committee that distributes money to multiple recipients.
Another $125,000 of Hyde-Smith’s fundraising came from PACs, including $2,500 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. To date, AIPAC has donated roughly $219,889 to Hyde-Smith’s campaign in total.
Overall, Hyde-Smith has raised more than $5.4 million, spending roughly $3.2 million of that. Her campaign had $2.5 million on hand at the end of the reporting period.
Independent Ty Pinkins had not filed a campaign finance report as of press time Thursday.
The three candidates will square off in the Nov. 3 general election.
District 1
In the race for 1st Congressional District representative, Republican incumbent Trent Kelly raised about $134,715, just more than half of which came from PACs, including $2,500 this quarter and $7,500 total from Employees of Northrop Grumman Corporation.
Among Kelly’s individual donors are District 17 Sen. Chuck Younger, R-Lowndes County, who donated $500 this quarter and $1,500 in total. Donald Rex Gillis, owner of Dutch Oil Company, also donated $2,000.
Kelly has spent more than $801,101 this election cycle and has about $863,664 on hand.
His Democratic challenger, Cliff Johnson, brought in roughly $179,358 since April 1, all of which coming from individual donations, including $3,500 from author John Grisham. He has spent about $401,550 on his campaign so far and has $149,644 on hand.
District 3
In the 3rd Congressional District, Republican incumbent Michael Guest raked in about $59,979 last quarter, with nearly half coming from PACs.
Among Guest’s individual donors is former state senator Sally B. Doty, who donated $250 to the campaign.
Guest has spent $407,149 to date on his campaign and has a balance of about $962,515 on hand.
Democratic challenger Michael Chiaradio raised about $54,401 last quarter, about 64% of which came from individuals, including $1,000 from Wilbur Colom, father to Scott Colom. He has spent about $132,191 on his campaign and has a little more than $23,208 on hand.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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