It’s no secret that political races can get heated and even down-and-dirty. But the current race for a U.S. Senate seat representing Mississippi has the Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith taking an unconventional route to criticize her opponent.
Hyde-Smith’s campaign announced Wednesday that it had created a fake campaign website called “ColomForSenate.com.” The URL is designed to appear as though it was created by Colom, but according to a press release from Hyde-Smith’s campaign, the site was designed “to inform voters of Scott Colom’s true platform and record.”
As visitors scroll through the website, Hyde-Smith’s campaign brands Colom as a “liberal,” “transgender defender,” and “Biden’s pick” for office. It also addresses why Hyde-Smith blocked Colom from receiving a federal judgeship under President Joe Biden, a promotion supported by her Mississippi Republican colleague in the Senate, Roger Wicker.
The website follows a series of attacks Hyde-Smith’s campaign has levied at Colom, who is a Lowndes County-based district attorney. The incumbent has previously criticized Colom over some of his campaign contributors, including left-leaning billionaire George Soros and his son, Alexander.
“Mississippians deserve to know who Scott Colom really is and who is behind his run for U.S. Senate,” said Jake Monssen, Hyde-Smith’s campaign manager. “[At the website], voters will learn that not only is Colom bankrolled by George Soros, he’s also campaigning alongside some of the nation’s most extreme leftists, such as Elizabeth Warren and even James Talarico, a candidate (for Senate in Texas) who has called for dismantling capitalism and who believes there are six genders.”
Hyde-Smith’s campaign is also using the website to discourage moderate voters and more centrist Republicans from voting for Colom in the Nov. 3 general election.
Colom has taken some positions on the campaign trail that are traditionally associated with Republicans, including advocating for gun rights and calling for the U.S.-Mexico border to remain secure. Hyde-Smith’s team, however, contends that Colom’s work with other Democratic officeholders and candidates ahead of the midterm elections is evidence that he actually has the same platform as them.
“Mississippians deserve to know Colom proudly shares the beliefs of these clowns,” Monssen continued. “Thankfully, just as she blocked Colom’s nomination by Joe Biden to become a federal judge, Cindy Hyde-Smith will once again block this extremist from federal office in November.”
While Colom did not respond to a request for comment on the website’s creation, the Mississippi Democratic Party did step in and condemn the move. State Rep. Cheikh Taylor, the party’s chairman, asserted that Hyde-Smith’s team is resorting to such attacks because of what he described as a damaged record.
“Cindy Hyde-Smith would rather Mississippians talk about a fake website than about her record,” Taylor said, pointing to her support for President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the ongoing war with Iran.
Taylor also accused Hyde-Smith of siding with child sex offenders over the American public by voting to keep the Jeffrey Epstein files sealed.
“She wants you distracted while gas prices climb because of her party’s mishandling of Iran, while her tariffs drive up the cost of everything from your grocery bill to your farm equipment, and while she voted to keep the Epstein files sealed, siding with a convicted predator’s secrets over the survivors demanding the truth,” Taylor said. “That’s not leadership. That’s a smokescreen, and Mississippians see right through it.”
Mikel Bolden, the Mississippi Democratic Party’s executive director, accused Hyde-Smith of being an absent leader. He highlighted that the incumbent has been spotted at fundraising events outside of Mississippi but has neither held a town hall in Mississippi nor agreed to debate her opponents.
“Sen. Hyde-Smith has found time for an annual fundraising trip to Las Vegas and out-of-state political travel, but she has not found time for a single town hall in Mississippi,” Bolden said. “She owes Mississippians a real answer, in person, about her vote for tariffs that are hurting our farmers, her support for entangling America further in Iran, and her vote to block the release of the Epstein files.
“Instead, we are getting a fake website.”
Though the website created by Hyde-Smith’s team may be a first in Mississippi – or at least the first time a website was intended to look like one created by the opposing candidate – it’s not the first time her and Colom have openly criticized each other.
Colom has often referred to the incumbent as “Cindy High Prices” and even posted a fake phone call of himself talking to and directly criticizing Hyde-Smith in September 2025.