Democrat Scott Colom has won the US Senate race in Mississippi, securing a shock victory in a deeply conservative state that has consistently elected Republicans for decades. The win makes Colom the first Black person from Mississippi to enter the US Senate since Blanche Bruce served from 1875 to 1881.
A Narrow and Historic Victory
Fewer than five thousand votes out of nearly a million counted separated Colom from his Republican opponent, the incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith. Colom, 43, secured the win with 49.2% of the vote, while Hyde-Smith received 48.7%. Hyde-Smith congratulated Colom in a video posted on X on Wednesday evening, stating that she respected the decision of Mississippi voters although it was not the outcome they hoped for.
The result brings the Democratic tally to 55 seats in the 100-member Senate, with a close race in Alaska still uncalled. The contest had not been widely predicted as competitive until the final weeks of the campaign, particularly given that President Donald Trump won the state in the 2024 election by more than 22 points.
Celebrations and Campaign Strategy
Colom delivered a victory speech on the campus of Tougaloo College before hundreds of cheering supporters under the night sky. Expressing gratitude to voters who waited days for the result since the November 4 election, Colom stated, “They did not believe a moment like this was possible, but I kept the faith.” He added, “It’s not something that I did y’all. It’s something we did. In Mississippi, it’s local people that make the difference.”
At the Mississippi headquarters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Jackson, the announcement of Colom’s victory brought forth deafening cheers and applause. NAACP board chairman Leon Russell called it an amazing result driven by the Black community through extensive organizing despite limited funding.
During the campaign, Colom engaged Republican voters directly, visiting all 82 counties in Mississippi and even speaking to people waiting in line at a Trump rally. He leveraged national economic frustrations tied to tariffs and a war with Iran, which exit polls indicated drove voter backlash against the Republican party. Using his background as a local prosecutor, Colom criticized his opponent’s support for Trump’s tariffs and labeled her “Cindy High Prices.” Another pivotal moment involved turning a remark by Hyde-Smith, who told voters to “pick another protein” regarding surging beef prices, into a viral campaign advertisement.
In response, Hyde-Smith’s campaign characterized Colom as a puppet of billionaire liberal donor George Soros, whose family has supported the Democrat’s political bids. The 67-year-old Republican incumbent also faced criticism for making a limited number of public appearances.
The outcome in Mississippi forms part of a broader wave of midterm election successes for Democrats, who have taken control of both the US House of Representatives and the Senate while flipping Senate seats in Republican strongholds such as Texas, South Carolina, Kansas, and Iowa.
