Mississippi Senate candidate Scott Colom attacks Cook Political Report accuracy

Mississippi Senate candidate Scott Colom attacks Cook Political Report accuracy Senate candidate Scott Colom (D) in Mississippi lashed out at the Cook Political Report on Monday, criticizing the vaunted election forecaster for underestimating his campaign’s strength against incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R). In a post on social media, Colom, who is leading Hyde-Smith by nearly 2,600 votes, argued that Cook’s race ratings hurt his campaign by hampering his ability of fundraise. In its final pre-election forecast, Cook rated the race as “Likely R,” its second-strongest behind “Solid R.” “At some point, we have to talk about @CookPolitical and other ‘prognosticators’ who had me and other southern candidates labeled as solid R for much of the campaign cycle,” Colom wrote in his post. “They made it much more difficult to fundraise and are part of the reason the South has been neglected for so long.” Founded in 1984, Cook has developed a reputation as one of the most reliable nonpartisan election forecasters in Washington. Its race ratings, which rank elections on a seven-point scale based on their likely outcome, historically have been extremely accurate, with 97 percent of its “Likely” ratings and 94 percent of its “Lean” ratings proving correct, according to a 2024 internal review. But like many forecasters this cycle, Cook’s 2026 ratings underestimated Democratic strength, with Democrats winning over a dozen House races that Cook had “Lean R” or “Likely R.” (Several races are still outstanding.) On the Senate side, Cook had rated the Senate seat in South Carolina won by Annie Andrews (D) as “Lean R” — its first missed call in the Senate since 1992.