Democrat Scott Colom wins Mississippi Senate seat in a rebuke to the right
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Scott Colom narrowly defeated incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by a few thousand votes, becoming the first Black Mississippian elected to the U.S. Senate in more than 140 years and helping expand the Democratic Senate majority to 55 seats.
Democrat Scott Colom secured a hard-fought victory in the Mississippi U.S. Senate race, edging incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith by a margin of 49.2% to 48.7%, according to CBS figures. The tight result delayed the final call for more than a week as local officials counted every ballot received before the deadline, underscoring how fiercely contested the race was.
Colom’s win marks the first time in more than 140 years that a Black candidate from Mississippi has been elected to the Senate, breaking a long exclusionary pattern and ending a Republican winning streak in the state that stretched back to 1982.
Hyde-Smith posted a video on X congratulating Colom, saying, "While this was not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters."
The outcome lifts the Democratic majority in the Senate to 55 seats, with the race in Alaska still pending. Analysts note that the result reflects broader voter dissatisfaction with the economy and the Iran conflict under President Donald Trump, echoing similar setbacks for Republicans in other traditionally conservative states during the midterms.