Scott Colom

Scott Colom is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate and the elected District Attorney of Mississippi's 16th Judicial District. A Columbus native, he worked as a staff lawyer, municipal judge and city prosecutor before being elected district attorney in 2015, and President Biden nominated him to a federal district court seat in 2022, though he was not confirmed. He won the March 10, 2026 Democratic primary with 72.9% of the vote and says he is running to lower costs, save Mississippi hospitals and bring good jobs home.[1][2]

Colom was born on December 24, 1982, and raised in Columbus, Mississippi.[2][3] According to his campaign website, he is a seventh-generation Mississippian and the son of retired Judge Dorothy Colom, the first African American elected to her region's Chancery Court, and Wilbur Colom, an attorney.[2] He earned a bachelor's degree from Millsaps College in 2005 and a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2009.[1]

Colom began his legal career as a staff lawyer and Skadden Fellow at the Mississippi Center for Justice from 2009 to 2011, then practiced at the Colom Law Firm from 2011 to 2016.[1] During that period he served as an interim Lowndes County justice court judge and as a municipal court judge in Aberdeen (2012-2013), and then as city prosecutor in Columbus (2013-2016).[1]

In 2015, at age 32, Colom unseated a 27-year incumbent to become district attorney, running on a reform platform, according to his campaign; he was sworn in on January 4, 2016, was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and won re-election in 2023.[2][1][3] The campaign says he has secured convictions in more than 15 high-profile murder cases, closed a record number of cold cases and won 94% of his trials.[2] As district attorney, he handled the 2021 dismissal of murder charges against Eddie Lee Howard, who had spent 23 years on death row on a conviction that relied on bite-mark evidence, as well as several cold-case prosecutions, according to Wikipedia.[3] President Biden nominated Colom to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi on November 15, 2022; the nomination was returned at the Senate's adjournment, Biden renominated him on January 23, 2023, and the Senate never confirmed him, returning the nomination to the President on January 3, 2024.[1][3]

Colom announced his Senate campaign in September 2025.[2] He and his wife Nadia have two daughters, and he is a lifelong member of Missionary Union Baptist Church in Columbus, where, the campaign says, he coaches sports and a high school mock trial team.[2]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.