As the November election approaches, one race has separated itself from the pack through high spending and campaign sniping.
The battle for District 16 District Attorney features youth versus experience.
Democrat Scott Colom, a 32-year-old lawyer who has served as Columbus city prosecutor and Aberdeen municipal judge, is challenging Forrest Allgood, the 61-year-old incumbent running as an independent.
Allgood has held the post since 1989, but Colom has the money and energy to make the campaign highly competitive.
Allgood has raised $38,722 and spent $28,438 through the Oct. 9 filing date. Scott Colom has raised $134,917 and spent $51,379, according to Secretary of State records.
Colom’s campaign has $83,527 cash on hand, while Allgood’s has $10,283.
Both candidates have relied on itemized donations, defined by election laws as contributions of $200 or more. Those donors have to be identified in the candidates’ campaign finance reports. For Allgood, more than $30,000 has been raised through those donations, while Colom has raised more than $90,000 in itemized donations.
But those itemized donations are not the only ones contributing to the race. Powerful out-of-state donors have contributed to Colom’s campaign.
“There’s been a lot of money spread around, and it ain’t been spread my way,” Allgood said. “It’s dadgum money from a bunch of outside people — at least from one group of outside people — and it creates a situation where it’s hardly a level playing field.”
Allgood is referring to the thousands spent on behalf of Colom by Mississippi Safety and Justice, a political super-PAC with one donor — Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros. The PAC also contributed to Robert Schuler Smith in the Hinds County D.A. race, according to campaign finance reports. According to reports on file with the Mississippi Secretary of State, the PAC donated a total of $716,125.72 in support of Colom and in opposition to Allgood.
“You can see money in a campaign,” Allgood said. “I mean there are things happening that I’ve never had happen in campaigns before.”
The PAC has provided Colom with professional T.V. and radio advertisements that air frequently, but Colom said he has had no input on what the PAC does and how they advertise. He said the photos of him in the T.V. spots were lifted from his website.
Colom said the involvement of Mississippi Safety and Justice has been “a blessing and a curse.”
“I don’t know George Soros, my dad (local attorney Wil Colom) doesn’t know George Soros,” Colom said. “I was just as surprised as everyone else that George Soros put all this money into a PAC that’s supporting my campaign.”
Both campaigns have denied responsibility for phone polling being conducted in the race. Mississippi Safety and Justice conducted the polls. Colom said he had not been aware the PAC was conducting phone polls until recently, and only found out about the polls when a supporter told him they had been called.
Experience versus ideas
The campaign has become increasingly combative, with Allgood advocating his 26 years as a prosecutor and Colom promoting reform techniques.
The sitting D.A. acknowledged the tense nature of this campaign in an interview with The Dispatch last week.
“They’ve all been contentious, but perhaps this one a little more than all the rest,” Allgood said. “I assume that’s because it’s his strategy to see if he can win that way. He can’t run on his qualifications. He’s never tried a felony jury trial.”
While the Allgood campaign has trumpeted his experience, the Colom camp has been quick to point out cases Allgood’s office prosecuted that have been overturned by the state Supreme Court or DNA evidence. Cases such as Levon Brooks, who served 16 years after being convicted of rape and murder in 1992 — DNA evidence revealed the true offender in 2008. Last week, the Supreme Court remanded the case of James Newell for the third time.
“The facts are, he has prosecuted lots of innocent people,” Colom told The Dispatch last week.
Allgood said his experience is important, but his attitude is what makes him the right choice. He says he will always be an advocate for the victim and their family.
“I am passionate about what I do. I believe in what I do,” Allgood said. “I believe that if we don’t get out there and protect victims’ interest, if we don’t take care of them, nobody else is going to do it. Because I’ve seen it done the other way, and I know nobody else is going to do it.”
Colom said it has been Allgood who has steered the campaign toward personal attacks, many of which have been issued via social media. He believes it is because his campaign poses such a challenge for the District 16 D.A. job, which pays $95,796 a year and covers Lowndes, Noxubee, Oktibbeha and Clay counties.
Colom said he has personally knocked on around 1,200 doors throughout the four-county district to spread his message, which is “Tough. Smart. Fair.” He plans to pursue violent crime zealously with a special team, and steer non-violent offenders toward drug court and alternate programs.
“The moment is right for doing small reforms to the criminal justice system,” Colom said.
Allgood maintains that such programs are already in place within his office.
“They act like we obstruct drug court, we don’t have anything to do with drug court,” Allgood said. “Drug court literally functions on its own, drug court picks who they want to go into their program… The drug court operates separately of us, independently of us.”
The incumbent feels that his opponent’s reform policies are too sympathetic to defendants.
“We don’t need a second defense lawyer up there working for the defendant, he’s already got a lawyer,” Allgood said.
“It’s not a matter of trying to go hang everybody high, that’s not the point,” Allgood added. “The point is you want somebody up there, if you’re the victim, that’s going to do his best to make your desired outcome a reality. You don’t want somebody up there who’s looking solely at the defendant and saying what can we do to help him, when he’s already got a lawyer trying to help him and there’s a judge who’s going to make sure his rights are protected.”
But Colom thinks Allgood’s way of prosecuting has led to errors and ultimately hurt the community. He thinks his style will ultimately lead to a better future.
“I have the ideas that can make us safe in the future,” Colom said.
Election day is Nov. 3.
A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the amount of money donated in support of Colom’s campaign by the Mississippi Safety and Justice PAC. The story has been updated to reflect the accurate amount.
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