Democratic challenger Scott Colom defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race, media outlets projected Wednesday, making him the first Black senator from the Deep South state since the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War.
The result marks a stunning upset in a state former President Donald Trump carried by nearly 23 points in 2024, and extends the nationwide rebuke Republicans suffered in the November 3 midterm elections. The Mississippi contest was among the final races decided, with Colom’s lead at times narrowing to just a few dozen votes. Final tallies showed him ahead by more than 4,500 votes, a margin of roughly 0.5 percentage points.
Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney, becomes the first Democrat to win a Mississippi Senate seat since John Stennis in 1982. His campaign capitalized on voter frustration over the cost of living, notably through a breakout advertisement mocking Hyde-Smith’s suggestion that consumers simply choose alternative “proteins” rather than pay rising beef prices.
Hyde-Smith, 67, was appointed to the Senate in 2018 and won a special election later that year. She had led opinion polls consistently throughout the race, and Trump campaigned for her in the state days before the election. “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,” Hyde-Smith said in a video posted to social media.
Democratic Majority Expands in Congress
The midterm elections stripped Republicans of control in both chambers, leaving Trump facing a Democratic-controlled Congress for the first time across his two terms. The opposition party now holds a 55-44 advantage in the 100-member Senate, with one race—in Alaska—still undecided. Democrats have also gained 41 House seats, holding a 254-168 lead with 13 races uncalled.
The party notched several high-profile victories in traditionally Republican-dominated states, including Texas, signaling a broader shift in the electoral landscape.
A Historic Turn in a State Defined by Civil Rights Struggle
Mississippi’s white electorate turned the state solidly Republican following the political realignment spurred by the 1960s civil rights movement, much of which played out on Mississippi soil. Black residents faced systemic discrimination in voting, employment, education, and public accommodations.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender, hailed the win as historic. “For too long, Southern Democrats have been overlooked, left out, and even looked down upon—but we are on the rise,” he posted on X.
In an October interview with Reuters, Colom said Mississippi voters felt betrayed by Trump administration policies, including the war in Iran, which he said drove up fuel prices. On the trail, Colom emphasized a ground-level approach. “We did it the hard way, the grassroots way,” he said, citing town halls and visits to public housing complexes, festivals, and food trucks. Rallies with Senators Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Cory Booker of New Jersey provided a late-campaign boost.
The last Black candidate elected to the Senate from Mississippi was Blanche Bruce, a former slave, in 1874.
The race carried a personal subtext: in 2023, Hyde-Smith blocked Colom’s nomination by then-President Joe Biden to serve as a federal district judge in northern Mississippi, citing his stance on transgender issues. Mississippi’s other senator, Republican Roger Wicker, had supported the nomination.
