Scott Colom defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's Senate race. The historic upset strengthens the Democrats' majority and ends a 150-year barrier.Democrat Scott Colom defeats Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith to become Mississippi's first Black US senator since 1874.Democrat Scott Colom has defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's US Senate race, according to media projections, becoming the first Black senator from the Southern state in more than 150 years in a historic upset that further strengthens the Democrats' position after the November 3 midterm elections.Colom's victory marks the first time since the Reconstruction era following the US Civil War that Mississippi will send a Black representative to the Senate.
The last Black candidate elected to the state's Senate seat was former slave Blanche Bruce in 1874.The result is particularly significant in a state that has remained a Republican stronghold. President Donald Trump won Mississippi by nearly 23 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election and personally campaigned for Hyde-Smith towards the end of the Senate race.The Mississippi contest was among the last outstanding races from the November 3 elections to be called.
Vote counting continued for more than a week, with the contest remaining extremely close. At one point, Colom was ahead by just a few dozen votes.
The latest media-tabulated results put him more than 4,500 votes ahead, a margin of around 0.5 percentage point. The 43-year-old district attorney also becomes the first Democrat to win a Mississippi Senate seat since John Stennis in 1982.DEMOCRATS STRENGTHEN POSITION IN SENATEColom's win further expands the Democrats' advantage in Congress, following their sweeping gains in the midterm elections, which saw Republicans lose control of both chambers.
The Mississippi result gives Democrats a 55-44 advantage in the 100-member Senate, with the outcome of one remaining race in Alaska yet to be determined. In the House of Representatives, Democrats have gained 41 seats so far and hold a 254-168 advantage, with 13 races still awaiting calls.The loss of both chambers has left Trump facing a Democratic-controlled Congress for the first time during either of his presidential terms.
The opposition party will now have greater leverage to block partisan legislation and launch investigations into his administration.HOW COLOM PULLED OFF THE UPSETHyde-Smith, 67, was first elected to the Senate in 2018 and had consistently led Colom in opinion polls in a state that has traditionally favoured Republicans. Trump's campaign appearance in her support had added to her advantage.However, Colom told Reuters in an October interview that voters in Mississippi felt betrayed by Trump's policies, particularly the war in Iran, which had pushed up fuel prices.During his campaign, Colom focused on grassroots outreach, holding town halls and visiting public housing communities, festivals and food trucks to connect with voters."We did it the hard way, the grassroots way," he told Reuters.His campaign also received a boost from October rallies featuring Democratic Senators Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Cory Booker of New Jersey.The contest also carried a personal political history between the two candidates.
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 position on transgender issues. Mississippi's other Republican senator, Roger Wicker, had supported his nomination.- EndsWith inputs from