Ryan Sayles was at his nephew’s football game when he realized a campaign ad he had helped make was taking off. The 27-year-old Mississippi content creator had seen strong numbers before, but nothing like this.

The 30-second spot for Democrat Scott Colom’s Senate campaign outperformed even a video featuring an endorsement from Barack Obama, Sayles told POLITICO. It helped draw national attention to Colom’s challenge against Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, whom he defeated to become Mississippi’s first Black senator since Reconstruction.

The ad captured voters’ blunt reactions to Hyde-Smith’s suggestion that people struggling with rising beef prices choose other protein options. One voter’s response: “I’d rather pick another senator instead.”

Sayles, a freelance photographer and videographer, had joined the campaign after being hired to cover an event in October. He had never worked on a political campaign.

Colom, his brother Andrew and campaign manager Gerard developed the ad’s script, Sayles said. He directed, shot and edited the spot, added music and leaned into the humor and speech patterns he felt made it sound like Mississippi.

“I think the best thing about the ad was it was centering people, centering voters,” he said. Colom appeared for only about five seconds.

Sayles spent roughly five hours editing the spot. The campaign did not seek outside approval before releasing it, he said, adding that his inexperience meant he wasn’t constrained by expectations of what Democratic advertising should look like.

Colom praised Sayles on X as the cycle’s “breakout-star,” saying he had done “GAME CHANGING work with SO little.”

Sayles also credited digital director Lacy Nelson with improving the campaign’s distribution after he had initially handled posting, filming, photography and editing himself.

His advice to Democrats is to understand local audiences rather than relying on a uniform national message. “You can’t give Mississippi a New York message,” he said.

Sayles hopes Colom’s victory will encourage greater investment in Southern campaigns. “There’s real opportunity in the South,” he said. “You just gotta invest.”