Scott Colom: Mississippi's First Black Senator Since 1881
It took more than a week of counting, and at one point the lead was just 43 votes. But on Wednesday 11 November 2026, the Associated Press called the race: Democrat Scott Colom had defeated Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi — and made history that stretches back nearly a century and a half.
Colom will be Mississippi's first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction, the first Black senator the state's voters have ever elected directly, and the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Mississippi since 1982. This is the story of the result, the man, and the history behind it.
The Result
The Senate race in Mississippi was one of the last to be decided in the 2026 midterm elections, which were held on Tuesday 3 November 2026. On election night, the count was so close that neither side could claim victory. Colom led by just 43 votes after the final election-night update, which came in from Pike County at 3:03 a.m. Eastern.
Then came days of counting: absentee ballots and provisional ballots, called affidavit ballots in Mississippi, processed county by county. Colom's lead only grew. By Wednesday 11 November, after the last provisional ballots were counted, his lead stood at 4,669 votes, and the Associated Press called the race in his favour. Hyde-Smith conceded.
Colom won with just over 49 percent of the vote. The final certified totals may shift the margin slightly as counties complete their certification, but the outcome is settled: Mississippi, a state that has voted Republican in Senate races for more than four decades, has elected a Democrat — and a Black Democrat — to the United States Senate.
At his victory party on Wednesday evening, held at Tougaloo College in Jackson in front of a crowd of hundreds, Colom said: “All I did was have the courage to imagine a night like this.”
Who Is Scott Colom?
Scott Colom is 43 years old and a local prosecutor — a district attorney — from Mississippi. He is an alumnus of Millsaps College in Jackson, and during the campaign he stopped to thank students there for their support on 4 November, the day after the election.
His campaign began with a personal grievance that became a political story. Colom launched his run for the Senate after Hyde-Smith used a Senate procedure to block then-President Joe Biden's nomination of him to the federal bench. What started as a blocked judgeship became a campaign for the very seat held by the senator who had blocked him.
Colom ran on the issues that the Associated Press said powered his win: the concerns of Mississippi's large Black population, discontent with the economy, and Hyde-Smith's missteps as she sought a second full term. He also benefited from Democratic gains across every county in the state as the late ballots were counted.
His opponent, Cindy Hyde-Smith, was appointed to the Senate in 2018. She won a special election runoff later that year and a full term in 2020. Both times she defeated Democrat Mike Espy, a former U.S. agriculture secretary who had also been Mississippi's first Black congressman since Reconstruction. Hyde-Smith's defeat ends her eight years in the Senate.
The History: 145 Years
To understand why Colom's win matters so much, you have to go back more than 150 years, to the years just after the American Civil War.
Mississippi has had two Black senators before — but never one chosen by the state's voters. On 25 February 1870, Hiram Revels walked into the chamber of the U.S. Senate to take his oath of office, becoming the first Black man to serve in either house of Congress. He had been chosen by the Mississippi Legislature to serve out the unexpired term of Jefferson Davis, the former president of the Confederacy.
Revels was soon joined by Blanche K. Bruce, who took office in 1875 and became the first Black man to serve a full term in the Senate. Bruce was born into slavery in Virginia and fled to freedom at the start of the Civil War. His term ended in 1881 — and Mississippi went about 145 years without another Black senator.
The difference this time is how Colom got there. Revels and Bruce were appointed by a legislature. Colom was elected by the people of Mississippi — the first Black senator from the state ever to win that way, and only the third Black senator in Mississippi's history.
There is a second piece of history in the result. Colom is the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate race in Mississippi since John C. Stennis was elected to his final term in 1982. The last time Mississippi voters picked a new Democratic senator was 1947 — and the winner then was a staunch segregationist. The state has been controlled mostly by white conservatives for generations, despite having the largest share of Black residents of any U.S. state.
The win also comes just six years after Mississippi retired its old state flag, which carried the Confederate battle emblem. That flag was replaced in 2020, and Colom's victory is the latest sign of how much the state's politics have changed since then.
Why the Win Matters
Colom's victory is part of a much bigger story: the Democrats' sweep in the 2026 midterms. On 3 November 2026, Democrats won control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and flipped five governorships. Colom is one of eight new Democratic senators to have flipped their states — and possibly a ninth, if Alaska's still-uncalled race goes their way.
For the Democrats, Mississippi was supposed to be out of reach. The state had not elected a Democratic senator in 44 years, and the party's win there challenges a basic assumption of American politics: that some states are simply unwinnable for one side or the other. Colom's narrow victory — fewer than 5,000 votes out of more than a million cast — shows that even the reddest states can flip when the count is close and every ballot is counted.
For Mississippi, the win is a milestone in representation. The state has the largest share of Black residents in America, and it has not had a Black voice in the U.S. Senate since 1881. From January, it will have one again — elected, this time, by the voters themselves.
None of this is a verdict on what Colom will do in office. A senator's record is written over six years, not on election night. But the result itself — who won, by how little, and after how long — is already part of American political history.
What Happens Next
- Certification: the Associated Press has called the race, but formal certification of the final vote totals is a separate process. Counties must finish counting and certifying, and the margin may move slightly.
- 3 January 2027: the new 120th Congress meets, with Democrats in control of both chambers. Colom takes his seat in the Senate then.
- Alaska: the last uncalled Senate race is in Alaska, where Democrat Mary Peltola held a narrow lead over Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, with about 84 percent counted. If Peltola wins, she becomes the ninth Democratic flip of the cycle.
- Mississippi politics: the state's Republicans will be asking how a seat they held for eight years slipped away by fewer than 5,000 votes — and whether Colom's win is a one-off or the start of a real contest for the state.
For now, the fact stands on its own: after 145 years, Mississippi has a Black senator again — and for the first time ever, its voters chose him themselves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Scott Colom?
Scott Colom is a 43-year-old Democrat and local prosecutor (district attorney) from Mississippi. He won the state's 2026 U.S. Senate race, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, and will become Mississippi's first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction.
Who did Scott Colom beat in Mississippi?
Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, the incumbent. She was appointed to the Senate in 2018, won a special election runoff later that year and a full term in 2020. She conceded after the Associated Press called the race for Colom on Wednesday 11 November 2026.
How close was the Scott Colom race in Mississippi?
Very close. Colom led by just 43 votes after the final election-night update, and his lead grew to 4,669 votes by the time the Associated Press called the race on Wednesday 11 November, after several days of counting absentee and provisional ballots. He won with just over 49 percent of the vote.
Why is Scott Colom's win historic?
He will be Mississippi's first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction — the first in about 145 years — and the first Black senator from Mississippi ever elected by a vote of the people. He is also the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate race in Mississippi since 1982.
Who were Mississippi's earlier Black senators?
Hiram Revels, who took his seat on 25 February 1870 and became the first Black man to serve in either house of Congress, and Blanche K. Bruce, who served from 1875 to 1881 and was the first Black senator to serve a full term. Both were chosen by the Mississippi Legislature during Reconstruction, not elected by voters. Bruce was born into slavery.
When was the last Democrat to win a Senate race in Mississippi?
John C. Stennis was elected to his final term in 1982, making Colom the first Democrat to win a Senate race in the state since then. The last time Mississippi voters picked a new Democratic senator was 1947.
When does Scott Colom take office?
He takes his seat when the new 120th Congress meets on 3 January 2027. The Associated Press has called the race, but formal certification of the final vote totals is a separate process that still has to be completed.
What about the Alaska Senate race?
The Alaska race was still uncalled as of 12 November 2026. Democrat Mary Peltola held a narrow lead over Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, with about 84 percent of the vote counted. If she wins, she would be a ninth new Democratic senator to flip a state in the 2026 midterms.
Related Reading
- Democrats' 2026 Midterm Win: Mamdani's Story — the full story of the Democrats' 2026 sweep, House and Senate, that Colom's win is part of.
- New Governors After the 2026 Midterms — who won the governor races on 3 November 2026.
- New Political Campaigns 2026–2028 — the campaigns shaping the next two years of American politics.
Sources
- Associated Press (via Mississippi Free Press) — Colom elected Mississippi's first Black US senator since Reconstruction, 12 November 2026.
- Mississippi Free Press — Scott Colom wins Mississippi US Senate race in historic feat, 12 November 2026.
- Associated Press (via Now Georgia) — Colom elected Mississippi's first Black US senator since Reconstruction, 11 November 2026.
- AURN News — Scott Colom wins historic Mississippi Senate race, 12 November 2026.
- Serious Business Network — Democrat Scott Colom wins Mississippi's US Senate race as Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith concedes, 11 November 2026.
The Associated Press called this race on 11 November 2026. Final certified vote totals may differ slightly from the figures reported at the time of the call.