Scott Colom is a seventh-generation Mississippian born and raised in Columbus. He is the son of retired Judge Dorothy Colom (first African-American elected to her region's Chancery Court) and Wilbur Colom (an attorney and former Republican Reagan administration employee). Colom earned his law degree and has served as a prosecutor, judge, and since 2015 as District Attorney for the 16th Judicial District (Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee, Oktibbeha counties). He achieved a 94-96% conviction rate, prosecuted corrupt sheriffs, and solved record numbers of cold cases. He was nominated by President Biden in November 2022 to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi but had his nomination blocked by Hyde-Smith's refusal to return her 'blue slip' in 2023. He is married with two daughters and is a lifelong member of Missionary Union Baptist Church.
Colom is a lifelong Mississippian and member of a prominent political family. His mother was a groundbreaking judge; his father worked in Republican administration but is an attorney. He was born in Columbus and elected District Attorney in 2015 at age 32, unseating a 27-year incumbent on a reform platform. He is known for criminal justice reform, cold case solving, prosecuting corrupt officials, and exonerating wrongly convicted defendants. He represents a new generation of Democratic leadership in a heavily Republican state.