The moment had been 145 years in the making.
Dozens of people packed a small room inside the historic Masonic Lodge Hall in Jackson, Mississippi, on Wednesday, waiting to learn whether Scott Colom would become the state’s next U.S. senator.
The 70-year-old building serves as the permanent home of the NAACP’s state headquarters, where civil rights leaders—many of whom were present that night—had worked for decades to make this moment possible.
When a loudspeaker announced Colom’s victory, it ended a long and anxious wait for results that arrived more than a week after Election Day. The room erupted with emotion.
“Yes sir,” one man shouted, dropping to the floor and moving his arms and legs as if making a snow angel on the carpet.
Colom’s win is the first Democratic victory in the seat in more than 40 years. The last Democrat to hold it, elected to a final term in 1982, supported segregation.
It is also the first time a Black politician has held the seat since 1881. Mississippi’s population is almost 40% Black, a larger share of the electorate than in any other state.
After a U.S. Supreme Court ruling struck down parts of the Voting Rights Act, Republicans have moved to reduce the number of majority-Black districts—a step many experts say weakens Black voting power. Against that backdrop, Colom’s victory resonated deeply with many in the room.
“All the stories that my father used to tell me about him growing up here in Jackson, and all the hardships and unjust treatment that he faced. And having experienced some of that myself, it’s hard to put it into words what this moment means for us,” Cedric Haynes said.
“Whoever thought this day would have come.”
People cheered, hugged, kissed and cried as they celebrated the achievement.
“I think it is special. It is holy, and it is something different,” said Charles Taylor, executive director of the NAACP’s Mississippi branch.
