Scott Colom wins Mississippi Senate race in historic upset

A Republican stronghold changes hands

Scott Colom's victory in Mississippi gave Democrats a US Senate seat long held by Republicans, with the Associated Press calling the race Wednesday after ballot counting that followed the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The 43-year-old Democrat defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith and became the first Black person elected to represent the state in the Senate since the Reconstruction era.

CNN's Decision Desk projected Colom as the winner, while AFP reported that CNN, NBC and CBS were among the outlets calling the race. CNN made its call eight days after election night, with about 99% of the vote counted and Colom leading Hyde-Smith 49.2% to 48.7% — a margin of 4,585 votes.

Impact on the midterm balance

AFP described the result as an extraordinary upset in traditionally conservative, ruby-red Mississippi and part of a wider rebuke of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. The agency said the midterm election allowed Democrats to reclaim the majority in both chambers, with the Mississippi result giving them 55 Senate seats against 44 for Republicans while one race in Alaska remained outstanding.

The AFP report said the midterm result was a personal humiliation for the 80-year-old Trump and left him a lame-duck president for the remaining two years of his term. It also said Democratic control of Congress would give the party the power to block legislation, investigate the administration and thwart its appointments, after Democrats flipped eight Republican-held Senate seats in South Carolina, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Texas and Maine, in addition to Mississippi.

AFP linked the close race to anger over Trump's harsh immigration policy, the war in Iran and rising costs of living. Colom, a local prosecutor and district attorney, based his campaign on economic concerns including rising prices and affordability, while highlighting what his campaign described as Hyde-Smith's shortcomings in representing ordinary Mississippians.

Reactions to the result

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand congratulated Colom after the result, writing, “Congratulations to Senator-Elect Colom on his historic win and on becoming the first Democrat to win a Mississippi Senate seat in over four decades,” in a joint statement. They pledged to work with him on issues affecting Mississippi residents when he joins the upper chamber in the 120th Congress.

Hyde-Smith, who has served in office since 2018, conceded in a video posted to X and said, “While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters. I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state.” Mississippi has no law mandating a recount in a close election, while legal teams for both candidates were reported to be preparing possible challenges.

Anadolu Agency's report described Colom as Mississippi's first Democratic senator in nearly four decades and said the last time the state elected a Democratic senator was in 1947; AFP described the interval as more than four decades. Schumer celebrated the result on X, writing, “Blue Mississippi is here,” and adding, “Scott Colom is the only person who could've gotten this done. I knew it from the moment I met him.”

Colom's victory speech

Colom celebrated at a rally in Jackson after defeating Hyde-Smith, describing his political journey as rooted in faith, collective effort and the significance of African American representation in Mississippi. “For me, this journey started with a prayer, y'all,” he told supporters, while AFP also quoted him as saying, “Mississippi, our prayers have often changed the course of history. God didn't want us to get it the easy way. He wanted us to get it the Mississippi way.”

He pointed to Hiram Revels, the first African American to serve in the US Senate, who represented Mississippi in 1870 and 1871 during Reconstruction after the Civil War. “For people that don't know, the first African American to be a United States senator was from the great state of Mississippi. His name was Hiram Revels,” Colom said; AFP reported that Revels was a minister by training whose powerful oratory inspired other politicians to support his Senate campaign.

Colom credited his supporters and campaign team, saying, “For months and months, I've been telling everybody everywhere I go that we're going to win this election. It's not something that I did, it's something that we did.” He pledged to represent all Mississippians, telling the crowd, “I make a solemn commitment to each and every Mississippian today: in every decision I make, I will never forget the most important thing is, Mississippi matters.”