Democrat Scott Colom unseated incumbent Republican senator Cindy Hyde-Smith to win a Mississippi Senate seat on Wednesday. The result came after more than a week of vote counting in the heavily Republican state. The Associated Press called the contest after absentee and provisional ballots confirmed Hyde-Smith could not close the margin.
"While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters," Hyde-Smith said in a two-minute concession video shared on social media. "I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state."
The victory marks the first time Mississippi has elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982. It is also the first time the state has sent a Black senator to Washington since 1875, and makes Colom the first Black man popularly elected to the Senate in state history. During Reconstruction, state lawmakers chose senators.
Mississippi has now sent more Black people to the Senate than any other state besides Illinois. Blanche K Bruce, the last Black man elected to the Senate from the state, was born into slavery, while John C Stennis, the last Democrat sent from Mississippi, spent most of his career as a segregationist.
Colom’s win contributed to a national wave of voter anger against Donald Trump’s administration, helping Democrats secure at least 55 seats in the Senate in the largest midterm gain for the party since 1986. Voters across the south were motivated by presidential attempts to redraw Black-majority districts.
Colom previously unseated a nearly 30-year incumbent in 2015 to become the first Black district attorney for the 16th circuit, maintaining a 94 percent conviction success rate. Joe Biden previously nominated him to be a federal judge in the northern district of Mississippi, but Hyde-Smith blocked him from receiving a confirmation hearing.
"I blocked Scott Colom from being a federal judge, and you blocked him from being a US senator," Hyde-Smith told supporters on election day. Colom campaigned on the slogan that Mississippi matters, promising to represent all residents including those who voted for his opponent.
His campaign drew national attention with a viral advertisement playing on Hyde-Smith’s remarks about the rising cost of beef, in which she suggested voters choose other proteins. The campaign used the clip alongside a taco truck tour where free tacos were handed out to voters.
National and local voting groups deployed hundreds of volunteers and lawyers to all 82 counties during the days-long count as both candidates initially projected confidence. Mississippi law has no automatic recount system, requiring any challenges to be filed on a county-by-county basis through a court lawsuit.
