Scott Colom flipped Mississippi’s Senate seat after a prolonged vote count, making him the state’s first Black senator since Reconstruction.
Democrat Scott Colom won Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race on Wednesday, defeating Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith after several days of ballot counting. The Associated Press called the race for Colom following an extended tally of absentee and affidavit ballots across the state.
The victory makes Colom the first Black U.S. senator from Mississippi since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. Colom, a 43-year-old local district attorney, flipped a seat in a state where white conservatives held dominance for generations. NBC News projected that Colom’s win gives Democrats at least 55 Senate seats in the next Congress, with Alaska’s Senate contest remaining the only uncalled race in the country.
Why the race matters
Colom’s victory marks the eighth Republican-held Senate seat flipped by Democrats in the midterm election. Along with Mississippi, CBS News reported that Democrats flipped seats in North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Iowa, Kansas and Maine. In January, Democrats will control at least 55 Senate seats compared to 44 for Republicans, with Alaska still undecided.
The outcome represents a major upset in deep-red territory. Colom will represent the reddest state of any Senate Democrat in the incoming Congress. While Abdul El-Sayed won in Michigan to build out Democratic totals, Mississippi had not backed a Democrat for U.S. Senate in decades. Al Jazeera reported that John Stennis was the last Democrat to win a Mississippi Senate race in 1982, when he defeated Republican challenger Haley Barbour. PBS NewsHour reported that the state had not chosen a new Democratic senator since 1947.
Outlets gave slightly different figures for recent presidential margins in the state. NBC News and PBS NewsHour reported that Donald Trump won Mississippi by 23 points in 2024, while Al Jazeera put the margin at just over 22 points and CBS News reported it was 20 points. NBC News exit polling found that a majority of Mississippi voters disapproved of Trump’s performance, opposed U.S. military action in Iran, and believed tariffs hurt the economy.
How the campaign played out
National groups did not initially target Mississippi, but spending surged in the final weeks as polls tightened. The Democratic super PAC Senate Majority PAC spent almost $2.1 million on advertisements after launching an ad buy in late October, according to AdImpact data cited by NBC News. The Republican super PAC Senate Leadership Fund matched that buy with commercials labeling Colom radical.
Colom focused on economic pressure and criticized Hyde-Smith’s record, giving her the nickname “Cindy High Prices.” He gained traction online after releasing an ad responding to Hyde-Smith’s suggestion that consumers facing high beef prices could select alternative proteins. The ad showed residents saying they would choose another senator instead.
Colom also pointed to Hyde-Smith’s support for federal legislation that reduced Medicaid funds, and he argued that federal tariffs and the war in Iran damaged Mississippi’s farmers, truckers, and local businesses. Colom traveled across the state, even greeting Trump supporters outside an October rally in Corinth before Hyde-Smith spoke briefly inside.
High-profile surrogates entered the race down the stretch. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Bill Clinton, and Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock campaigned for Colom. Former President Barack Obama appeared in digital campaign advertisements. Trump had endorsed Hyde-Smith more than a year before the midterms, calling her “100% MAGA.”
Past clashes and what happens next
The Senate contest followed an earlier clash between the two candidates over a federal judgeship. Then-President Joe Biden nominated Colom to serve as a U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of Mississippi. Hyde-Smith blocked the appointment using Senate tradition. PBS NewsHour reported the nomination took place in 2022, while Al Jazeera reported it occurred in 2023. Al Jazeera noted Hyde-Smith cited Colom’s stance on transgender athletes when halting the nomination.
Hyde-Smith, 67, joined the Senate in 2018 when then-Gov. Phil Bryant appointed her after Thad Cochran stepped down. She won a 2018 special election runoff and secured a full term in 2020 against Democrat Mike Espy. During the vote count following the November 3 election, she largely stayed out of view before traveling to Washington for Senate business, expressing confidence in a statement that she would win once all valid votes were tallied.
Colom maintained public appearances during the count, calling on Hyde-Smith to address reporters. Colom ran on pledges to raise the minimum wage, protect rural hospitals, and stop the war in Iran. He will take the oath of office when the new Congress convenes in January.
