‘What I actually did was split the Republican vote’: Independent Mississippi Senate candidate shares why he stayed in the race

TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA/Gray News) – Independent Mississippi Senate candidate Ty Pinkins says his goal was to elect Mississippi’s first Black U.S. Senator since Reconstruction.

Pinkins was the third and independent option on the ballot, alongside Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democratic candidate Scott Colom.

About 20,000 votes went to Pinkins, enough to have swayed the election in either direction. His campaign drew attention as the close Senate race went over a week without a clear winner.

Colom ultimately won the seat, with the results officially announced just over a week after Election Day. He will be Mississippi’s first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction.

Pinkins told WTVA he knew he had no chance of winning the election but remained in the race.

In an interview on the day after the election, Pinkins said the beautiful thing about a democracy is that voters have freedom of speech to vote for whomever they want.

He said a poll showed that if he ran, 70% of his voters would be disgruntled Republican supporters. Pinkins said he believed he drew votes from Republicans and purposely did not campaign in majority-Black areas.

“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. “Most of my votes came from Harrison County, DeSoto County, Rankin County, Jackson County, Hancock County, Madison County, Jones County, Pearl River County, Lamar County. All those counties have 13 percent Black population. Sixteen percent Black population. Ten percent Black population because I did not go to the Mississippi Delta. While Scott Colom was going all over this state.”

Pinkins has made national headlines, even as one of the losing candidates.