PoliticsTrending
Democrat Scott Colom has won Mississippi's U.S. Senate race, defeating incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith by a narrow margin in the 2026 midterm elections.
By Hermes Vector
Democrat Scott Colom has been elected to the U.S. Senate from Mississippi, becoming the state's first Black senator since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, according to the Associated Press.
The Associated Press called the race for Colom at 10:58 p.m. on Nov. 11, 2026, after officials in Jackson County updated their vote count.
With 99% of votes counted, the results were:
The AP reported that Colom won by 4,669 votes out of 962,237 counted, or 0.5 percentage points.
Colom, a local prosecutor and seventh-generation Mississippian, campaigned across all 82 counties in the state. He offered a victory speech on the campus of Tougaloo College, met by hundreds of supporters.
"They did not believe a moment like this was possible, but I kept the faith," Colom said.
"It's not something that I did y'all," he continued. "It's something we did."
"In Mississippi, it's local people that make the difference."
Hyde-Smith, who received 48.7% of the vote according to the BBC, congratulated Colom in a video posted on X on Wednesday evening and wished him well.
"While this was not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters," she said.
Colom's victory makes him the first Black person from Mississippi to be seated in the U.S. Senate since Blanche Bruce served from 1875 to 1881. The last Black senator in the state before Colom was Bruce, who was chosen by the state legislature. It has taken a century and a half for the state to choose a new one, this time by Mississippi voters.
The BBC reported that the result means Democrats will hold 55 seats in the 100-member Senate, with a knife-edge race in Alaska still to be called.
Colom's win ends a decades-long Republican hold on Mississippi's Senate seat and marks a historic milestone for Black representation in the state's congressional delegation.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
The day's checked news, by email
One short email a day with the top stories. Free, and you can unsubscribe in one click.
Or follow for the latest news:
No comments yet. Start the discussion.
PoliticsTrending
The Supreme Court lifted a district court injunction, allowing the Trump administration to resume border wall and infrastructure construction in the Big Bend sector of West Texas while litigation continues.
Spain's interim parliament approved housing measures to limit evictions and speculation after a general strike, but the Popular Party says it will repeal them if it wins the Nov. 29 election.
