Democrat Scott Colom defeats Hyde-Smith and will become Mississippi's first African American senator since Reconstruction

Scott Colom won the election for the Senate in Mississippi. More than a week after the election, the Democrat was declared the winner over the incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith. With this result, the Democrats expand their new majority in the Senate — pending the results from Alaska — to 55 senators. In any case, they would secure their largest majority since 2008, when the Democrats held 57 seats.

With 99% of the votes counted, The Associated Press called the race for Colom, who received 49.2% to 48.7% for Hyde-Smith, who had declared victory on election night.

No Democrat had won a Senate election in Mississippi since 1982, the same year Colom was born. Furthermore, the attorney will become Mississippi's first African American senator since Reconstruction. The only two previous ones, Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce, held office between 1870 and 1881 and were elected by the state legislature, so Colom will also be the first to reach office through the popular vote. Before 1913, when the 17th Amendment was ratified, senators were sent to Washington, D.C., by their respective state legislatures.

Mississippi was a state that, at the start of this election cycle, was considered a Republican stronghold. Senator Hyde-Smith had been in office since 2018, when she was appointed to replace Senator Thad Cochran. Furthermore, Donald Trump had won the state by more than twenty percentage points in 2024. However, Colom achieved the unthinkable and won the state by less than one percentage point.

Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, celebrated Colom's victory on social media: "Blue Mississippi is here. Scott Colom is the only person who could’ve gotten this done. I knew it from the moment I met him."

As for Hyde-Smith, she posted a video conceding defeat and congratulating Colom on his victory.

Who is Scott Colom?

Aged 43, he was born in Columbus, Mississippi, and earned his law degree from the University of Wisconsin. He was the first African American city attorney in Columbus, and in 2015 he was elected district attorney of Mississippi's 16th Judicial District.

In 2022, President Joe Biden nominated him to be a federal judge with the support of the state's other Republican senator, Roger Wicker. However, Hyde-Smith blocked the nomination in 2023.

Hyde-Smith then refused to hand over the blue slip. This is a tradition of the Senate Judiciary Committee under which the two senators from the nominee's home state must give their approval via a blue form for the nomination to move forward. Without that approval, the committee does not consider the nomination.