Democrat Scott Colom wins Mississippi Senate seat, ending GOP grip on a state long shaped by Republican power
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Democrat Scott Colom defeated incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, handing Democrats an eighth Senate pickup in the 2026 cycle and breaking a long Republican hold on the seat.
Democrat Scott Colom defeated incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in the Mississippi Senate race, CBS News projects, delivering Democrats an eighth flipped Senate seat. Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney and seventh-generation Mississippian, centered his campaign on the crushing cost of living and access to health care, and he drew support from national figures such as former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Colom would become the state's first Black senator since Reconstruction, a milestone that underscores both the historic nature of the race and the continuing push to broaden representation in a state long dominated by Republican politics. Hyde-Smith, who has served in the Senate since 2018 and was the first woman elected to represent Mississippi in Congress, issued a video statement after the result.
"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 as he takes on the responsibility of representing our state."
The contest tightened in the final weeks, pushing national Democrats to spend more heavily on advertising and prompting the Cook Political Report to shift its rating from solidly Republican to leaning Republican. At one point after the election, the margin was only a few dozen votes, but Colom's lead grew in the subsequent days.
President Trump carried Mississippi by 20 points in 2024, and the state had not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982. The close finish reflects broader national trends that have made several traditionally Republican seats competitive this cycle, as voters increasingly reject automatic loyalty to the GOP.