Scott Colom Wins Mississippi Senate Race in Historic First

Scott Colom won Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race, defeating Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in a narrow contest and becoming the first Black person elected by Mississippi voters to the Senate since Reconstruction. The result also marks the state’s first Democratic Senate victory since 1982.

The Associated Press called the race for Colom on Wednesday, November 11. A report put his lead at fewer than 5,000 votes after 99% of ballots had been counted. That is a preliminary margin, not a certified final tally.

Colom’s victory breaks a gap of nearly a century and a half in Black representation from Mississippi in the Senate. Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce, the state’s two Black senators during Reconstruction, were elected by the state legislature. Revels took office in 1870, and Bruce served from 1875 to 1881. Colom is the first Black senator chosen directly by Mississippi voters.

At a victory celebration at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Colom invoked civil rights figures including Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer, and credited supporters with sustaining his campaign. He said he would represent Mississippians whether or not they voted for him. His win gives the state a new...