Democrat Scott Colom unseats Cindy Hyde-Smith in stunning Mississippi Senate win

Democrat Scott Colom defeated Cindy Hyde-Smith, the incumbent Republican senator, to become the first Black senator in Mississippi elected since Reconstruction, in a stunning upset after more than a week of vote counting in one of the country’s most reliably red states.

“For me, this journey started with a prayer, y’all,” Colom said while addressing supporters Wednesday night in Jackson, Mississippi. “And in Mississippi, our prayers have often changed the course of history.”

Colom opened up a narrow lead over Hyde-Smith late on election night. His lead widened as election officials counted absentee and provisional ballots. The Associated Press called the contest on Wednesday, after it was clear Hyde-Smith was not able to close the gap.

In a two-minute concession video shared on social media, Hyde-Smith said: “While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters.” She offered her congratulations to Colom and said she wished him well “as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state”.

Mississippi has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982. It’s been much longer – not since 1875 – that the state sent a Black senator to Washington. Colom is also the first Black man popularly elected to the Senate in the state’s history – during Reconstruction, senators were chosen by state lawmakers.

With Colom’s election, Mississippi, the first state to send Black lawmakers to Congress, has sent more Black people to the Senate than any other state besides Illinois. Blanche K Bruce, the last Black man elected to the Senate from Mississippi, was born into slavery; John C Stennis, the last Democrat to be sent from Mississippi, was, for most of his career, a staunch segregationist.

Colom’s election capped a national wave of anger at Donald Trump’s administration, sweeping away Republicans in places where Democrats hadn’t been competitive in decades. With the addition of Colom, Democrats will hold at least 55 seats in the Senate – the party’s largest midterm gain since 1986.

Across the south, voters were further motivated by the president’s attempt to drastically redraw Black majority districts, attempting to dilute the largely Democratic voting blocs.

Colom has a track record of success in the state. In 2015, Colom unseated a nearly 30-year incumbent when he was elected the first Black district attorney for the 16th circuit. As district attorney, he had a 94% success rate for convictions. He’s a seventh-generation Mississippian, whose father was a longtime Republican who campaigned for Ronald Reagan and was friendly with Thad Cochran, a longtime state politician who resigned from his US Senate seat in 2018 due to declining health.

A string of Democratic stars visited the state late in the race as the polls showed a tightening race – Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris and Bill Clinton all made appearances for Colom. Trump rallied for Hyde-Smith last month.

Joe Biden nominated Colom to be a federal judge in the northern district of Mississippi. With support from both Republicans and Democrats, he appeared to be on track to a lifetime appointment on the federal bench, when Hyde-Smith blocked him from having a confirmation hearing.

“I blocked Scott Colom from being a federal judge, and you blocked him from being a US senator,” Hyde-Smith said in remarks to supporters on election day.

In the days after the election, as Colom’s vote-margin inched higher, he kept a dizzying campaign pace, visiting Millsaps College, his alma mater, and local colleges Jackson State University and Tougaloo College. With national and international cameras on him, Colom stopped by small, local businesses, including Marshall’s Music and Book Store and OffBeat, both of which are Black-owned, and Brent’s Drugs, a Jackson classic.

Colom campaigned on the promise that “Mississippi matters”. He told voters that he would represent all Mississippians, even those who supported his opponent – and the president.

A week before the vote, he attended Trump’s rally for Hyde-Smith in Corinth to engage the president’s supporters and listen to their economic concerns. He posed for photos with some rally-goers, as they talked to him about high gas prices, grocery bills and health insurance. He later said the face-to-face conversations helped him convert the unlikeliest of voters to his campaign.

Colom drew national attention for a viral ad that played on his opponent’s response to a question about the rising cost of beef: “You have so many proteins to choose from,” Hyde-Smith told a local television host during the interview. Colom’s campaign seized on the moment, producing a 30-second ad that jumps from her reply to a man grilling beef patties. “Pick another protein?” the man says. “Shiiiit. I’d rather pick another senator instead.”

Colom drove a “pick your protein” taco truck around the state, handing out free tacos to voters.

As the days-long counting process commenced, both Hyde-Smith and Colom projected confidence that they would prevail.

National voting groups and attorneys descended upon the Magnolia state, joining the local groups that worked to mobilize voters. Democratic and Republican groups, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and Democratic election attorneys from the Elias Law Group, have deployed hundreds of volunteers and lawyers to all the state’s 82 counties to oversee the final rounds of counting.

Mississippi has no automatic recount law. A recount can only happen if ordered by a court in response to a lawsuit against a county or county election commission from a political party or campaign. Mississippi law does not establish a system for challenging ballots on a statewide scale, so the process would have to be on a county-by-county basis.

“I assure you,” Hyde-Smith said on election night, “I will continue to be your US senator.”

Asked about those comments at a press conference the next day, Colom replied: “Bless her heart.”