Supporters at a Scott Colom rally wearing 'PICK ANOTHER SENATOR INSTEAD' T-shirts

Scott Colom Wins Mississippi Senate Race in Historic First for Black Representation Since 1881

November 12, 2026 Faizan Altaf

Democrat Scott Colom has won the United States Senate race in Mississippi, defeating Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in one of the biggest upsets of the 2026 midterm elections. Colom will become the first Black senator from Mississippi since the Reconstruction era, more than 140 years ago, and the first Democrat the state has sent to the US Senate since 1982.

The Associated Press called the race for Colom on Wednesday evening, 11 November, more than a week after Election Day. CNN and NBC News also projected him the winner. Hyde-Smith conceded the same evening in a video message, congratulating her rival.

With about 99 percent of the vote counted, Colom led Hyde-Smith by 49.2 percent to 48.7 percent — a margin of a few thousand votes out of more than 950,000 cast. It was the closest Senate race in the country this year, and it flipped a seat in one of the most Republican states in America.

A race that took eight days to call

When Americans voted in the midterm elections on 3 November, the Mississippi Senate race was too close to call. Colom held a narrow lead of about 2,500 votes, but thousands of absentee and provisional ballots — known in Mississippi as affidavit ballots — still had to be counted.

Over the following days, Colom’s lead grew slowly as the remaining ballots were processed. By Wednesday, his lead had passed 3,000 votes, and the Associated Press judged it large enough to declare him the winner. Hyde-Smith called Colom to concede, then posted a video message accepting the result.

The result is a projection, not yet a certified outcome. Mississippi’s counties are due to certify their results on Friday, 13 November, and the secretary of state will declare the statewide result on 3 December. Mississippi has no automatic recount, so any challenge to the result would have to go through the courts.

Colom declared victory on Wednesday night, eight days after Election Day, telling supporters that Mississippi had chosen a new direction.

Why this win is historic

Colom’s victory breaks a barrier that has stood for a century and a half. He will be the first Black senator from Mississippi since Blanche K. Bruce left office in 1881. Bruce was born into slavery and served in the Senate from 1875 to 1881. Mississippi’s only other Black senator was Hiram Revels, who served briefly in 1870.

Colom is also the first Black person to be elected to statewide office in Mississippi since the Reconstruction era that followed the American Civil War. And he is the first Democrat Mississippi has elected to the US Senate since John Stennis won re-election in 1982 — 44 years ago.

The history matters because Mississippi has the largest Black population, by share, of any US state. Close to 40 percent of the state’s voters are Black. Yet no Black candidate had ever won a statewide election there in modern times, and the state had not sent a Democrat to the Senate in more than four decades.

Colom’s win also sets a new record in Washington. When the 120th Congress meets in January, it will include seven Black senators — the most in American history.

How Colom won in deep-red Mississippi

On paper, this was not a race a Democrat was supposed to win. Mississippi is one of the most conservative states in the country. President Donald Trump won it by more than 23 points in the 2024 presidential election. The Cook Political Report had rated Hyde-Smith the favourite.

Colom won by doing two things: turning out Black voters in large numbers and winning over enough other voters with a campaign built around everyday costs.

Black voters made up just under one-third of the Mississippi electorate in this election, and they backed Colom by 97 percent to 2 percent, according to a survey of midterm voters by SSRS. That support was the foundation of his victory.

But Colom also campaigned relentlessly on the issues voters said mattered most to them: the cost of living, health care, raising the minimum wage, and protecting rural hospitals. Mississippi is one of the poorest states in America, and many of its rural hospitals have struggled to stay open. Colom, a local prosecutor, presented himself as a practical problem-solver rather than a party politician.

His campaign slogan told the story. Supporters wore T-shirts reading “Pick Another Senator Instead”, a message aimed at voters who felt Hyde-Smith had been in office too long without delivering for the state.

The result fits a wider pattern in the 2026 midterms. Democrats delivered a strong performance across the country on 3 November, and Colom’s seat is the eighth Senate seat they have flipped from Republicans in this election cycle.

Who is Scott Colom?

Scott Winston Colom is 43 years old. He was born on 24 December 1982 in Columbus, Mississippi, and describes himself as a seventh-generation Mississippian. He graduated from Millsaps College and has served since 2016 as district attorney for Mississippi’s 16th Judicial District, covering Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee and Oktibbeha counties in the north-east of the state.

Colom announced his Senate campaign in September 2025. Few people outside Mississippi had heard of him. He was a local prosecutor taking on a sitting senator in a state where Democrats had not won a Senate race in 44 years.

His background shaped his campaign. As a district attorney, he worked on cases that affected ordinary families, and he argued that his experience in the courtroom and in his community made him the right person to represent Mississippi in Washington.

He is married with two daughters, and his family has deep roots in the state — his father, Wilbur Colom, was the Republican nominee for Mississippi State Treasurer in 1987.

The blue-slip backstory

There is a personal edge to this contest. In 2023, Hyde-Smith blocked Colom’s nomination to become a federal judge by withholding a document known as a “blue slip”, which senators use to approve or block judicial nominees from their home state. Hyde-Smith cited concerns about Colom’s record, including his position on transgender rights.

Three years later, Colom has defeated the senator who blocked his path to the bench — and he will now sit in the Senate himself, with a vote on the judges nominated by future presidents.

What the result means for the Senate

Colom’s victory widens the Democratic majority in the Senate. Democrats will hold at least 55 seats in the new Senate, with one race — in Alaska — still undecided. If Democrat Mary Peltola also wins in Alaska, the Democratic majority would grow to 56 seats, their largest since 2008.

That matters because the Senate confirms judges, approves cabinet appointments, and passes laws. A bigger majority gives Democrats more room to act, even when a few of their own senators disagree with the party leadership.

The result also sends a signal about the political mood in America. If a Democrat can win a Senate seat in Mississippi — a state Trump carried by more than 23 points just two years ago — it suggests voter frustration with the Republican Party runs deeper than many expected. The Wall Street Journal described the win as a sign of how voter disenchantment with President Trump and his party had extended to unlikely corners of the country.

What happens next

Colom will be sworn in as a United States senator in January 2027, when the new Congress takes office. Until then, Hyde-Smith remains in the seat.

The final certified result is expected on 3 December, when Mississippi’s secretary of state declares the statewide outcome. Given the narrow margin, the count will be watched closely, but Mississippi has no automatic recount law, and Hyde-Smith has already conceded.

For Mississippi, the result is a turning point. For the first time since 1881, the state will send a Black senator to Washington. For the first time since 1982, it will send a Democrat. And for Scott Colom, a local prosecutor from Columbus, the long count that stretched eight days past Election Day has ended in one of the most surprising victories in modern American politics.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Scott Colom?

Scott Colom is a 43-year-old Democrat and district attorney from Columbus, Mississippi. He has served as district attorney for Mississippi’s 16th Judicial District since 2016. He won the 2026 US Senate race in Mississippi, defeating Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.

Why is Scott Colom’s win historic?

Colom will be the first Black senator from Mississippi since Blanche K. Bruce left office in 1881, and the first Black person elected statewide in Mississippi since the Reconstruction era. He is also the first Democrat Mississippi has elected to the US Senate since 1982.

How close was the Mississippi Senate race?

Very close. With about 99 percent of the vote counted, Colom led Hyde-Smith by 49.2 percent to 48.7 percent — a lead of a few thousand votes out of more than 950,000 cast. It was the closest Senate race in the country in the 2026 midterms.

When will Scott Colom take office?

Colom will be sworn in as a United States senator in January 2027, when the new Congress begins. Mississippi’s final certified result is expected on 3 December 2026.

How many Senate seats did Democrats flip in the 2026 midterms?

Democrats flipped eight Senate seats from Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections, giving them at least a 55-seat majority in the new Senate. The race in Alaska is still undecided.

Conclusion

Scott Colom’s victory in Mississippi is more than a single election result. It ends a 145-year wait for Black representation from the state in the US Senate, breaks a 44-year Democratic drought in Mississippi Senate races, and hands Democrats their eighth Senate flip of the 2026 midterms.

It happened in a state few thought Democrats could win, against an incumbent who had blocked Colom’s own path to the federal bench three years earlier. The eight-day count, the narrow margin, and the scale of the history all explain why this race captured attention far beyond Mississippi.

When Colom takes his seat in January, the Senate will look a little different — and Mississippi will have made history.

Sources

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.

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