Democrat Scott Colom takes Mississippi Senate seat, as Republicans lose control in another tight national fight
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Democrat Scott Colom defeated incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, giving Democrats an eighth Senate pickup in the 2026 cycle and ending Republican control of 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, made cost-of-living and health-care issues the center of his campaign and received backing 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. 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, prompting national Democrats to pour more money into ads 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, showing how aggressively funded Democratic campaigns can overcome entrenched GOP advantages in close races.