Mississippi elects first Black senator since 1875
Democrat Scott Colom unseats incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith in state's first incumbent defeat since 1942, outspent winner ran with little help from his own party
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Scott Colom on 3 November 2026, in Jackson, Mississippi. Photograph: Eric Shelton/AP
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Scott Colom speaks during a news conference at the Hinds county sheriff's office in Jackson, Mississippi on 10 November 2026. Photograph: Ellen Schmidt/AP
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Scott Colom speaks to people at a diner in Jackson, Mississippi, on 5 November 2026. Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters
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Scott Colom greets supporters while awaiting results during a midterm election watch party in Jackson, Mississippi, on 5 November 2026. Photograph: Lauren Witte/Reuters
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Mississippi has elected a Black US senator for the first time since 1875. Scott Colom, a Democratic district attorney, unseated incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith by a razor-thin margin after more than a week of vote counting, becoming the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state since 1982 and the first challenger to defeat a sitting Mississippi senator since 1942.
The national party barely figured in the win. For most of the campaign cycle prognosticators rated the seat "solid R", a label Colom said made fundraising harder: within three months of launching he had raised about $594,000 against Hyde-Smith's nearly $1.1 million, which included a significant donation from Aipac, the pro-Israel lobby. By election day the totals stood at roughly $3.6 million to $5.3 million in the incumbent's favour.
Colom spent what he had on showing up. He drove a "pick another protein" truck handing out free tacos, worked hair salons, college homecomings and diners, and a week before the vote joined the queue at Donald Trump's rally for Hyde-Smith, asking the president's supporters about gas prices, grocery bills and health insurance. He calculated he needed heavy Black turnout plus about a quarter of the white vote, and flipped counties that had been Republican strongholds. A seventh-generation Mississippian and son of a Reagan Republican, he had already unseated a district attorney who had held office for nearly three decades, then compiled a 94 percent conviction success rate.
The moment that put the race on the national map lasted half a minute. Hyde-Smith, a cattle farmer, was asked about rising beef prices: "You know, you have so many proteins to choose from." Colom's ad cut to a man flipping burgers on a grill — pick another protein? He would rather pick another senator.
Mississippi was the first state to send Black lawmakers to Congress. Its last Black senator, Blanche K Bruce, was born into slavery; its last Democratic one, John C Stennis, was a segregationist for most of his career. The national party arrived only when polls tightened, in the form of Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris and Bill Clinton, while Trump campaigned for Hyde-Smith in the final month. Across the South, the Guardian reports, voters were also motivated by the president's attempt to redraw Black-majority districts.
Joe Biden had nominated Colom to the federal bench in the northern district of Mississippi, with backing from both parties including Republican senator Roger Wicker. Hyde-Smith blocked the confirmation hearing.
On election day, well before the race was called, she joked: "I blocked Scott Colom from being a federal judge, and you blocked him from being a US Senator." The provisional ballots finished counting a week later.