Colom Wins Historic Mississippi Senate Upset

TL;DR: Democrat Scott Colom has defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith after more than a week of ballot counting. He will be Mississippi’s first Black U.S. Senator since Reconstruction and its first elected by popular vote. His win gives Democrats 55 seats in the next Senate.

Mississippi voters have elected Democrat Scott Colom to the U.S. Senate, ending more than four decades of Republican wins in the State’s Senate races.

The Associated Press called the race Wednesday, Nov. 11, after late returns widened Colom’s narrow lead over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith. The result gives Democrats 55 seats in the Senate that takes office in January, with Alaska still unresolved, according to the Magnolia Tribune.

Colom, a District Attorney from Columbus, is the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Mississippi since John Stennis won his final term in 1982.

The count took eight days to be decided. Colom led by just 43 votes after the final election-night update. By the time AP called the race, his margin had grown to 4,669 votes out of 962,237 counted — about half a percentage point, the Associated Press reported. Those figures remain subject to final certification.

The historic milestone reaches back to Reconstruction. Mississippi sent Hiram Revels, the nation’s first Black Senator, to Washington in 1870. Blanche K. Bruce followed in 1875 and served until 1881, according to the U.S. Senate’s historical record.

Both men were Republicans, chosen by State lawmakers under the system then in place. Colom will be Mississippi’s first Black Senator elected directly by voters, a distinction noted by Mississippi Today.

His campaign focused on household costs and health care. Colom challenged Hyde-Smith’s record on prices and argued that federal spending choices threatened health coverage and the State’s hospitals. National Democrats gave the race little early attention before pouring in help near the end, NPR reported.

One of his most pointed ads grew from Hyde-Smith’s response to high beef prices. The Senator, a cattle rancher, suggested consumers had other sources of protein. Colom’s campaign turned that advice into a call to choose a different Senator.

The race also carried a personal twist: Hyde-Smith had blocked Colom’s path to the federal bench.

As Mississippi Today reported when Colom entered the race, she used the Senate’s “blue slip” custom to stop his judicial nomination from moving forward. The process allows a home-State Senator to withhold support for a federal district court nominee.

Colom instead sought her seat.

A Columbus native, he serves as District Attorney for Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay and Noxubee Counties. He first won that office in 2015, defeating longtime prosecutor Forrest Allgood.

“Mississippi needs a Senator who’s going to put Mississippi first,” Colom told Mississippi Today when he launched his campaign.

The close count brought intense scrutiny from both parties. On Nov. 5, State Republican Party Chairman Mike Hurst pledged to “fight like hell” to ensure only lawful ballots were counted. Republican lawyers sought to preserve and set aside affidavit ballots, while Colom’s legal team disputed their demands under State law.

Affidavit ballots, also called provisional ballots, require officials to check a voter’s eligibility before counting the vote. Their review helped stretch the race well past Election Day.

Colom won without reaching 50%. Mississippi requires only a plurality in a regular federal general election, so the candidate with the most votes wins without a runoff. Independent Ty Pinkins drew about 2% of the vote, the Magnolia Tribune reported.

The outcome adds another seat to a Democratic majority already secured by Democratic successes elsewhere. It also ends a Republican hold on this Mississippi seat that began with Thad Cochran’s election in 1978. Hyde-Smith succeeded Cochran in 2018.

For Mississippi, the result changes who will speak for the State in Washington. It also closes a chapter that began when its last Black Senator left office nearly a century and a half ago.