Scott Colom wins Mississippi Senate seat in historic upset

Scott Colom has won the US Senate race in Mississippi, becoming the first Black person elected to the Senate from the state since 1874. The Democrat beat Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by fewer than 5,000 votes out of nearly one million counted, the BBC reported on Thursday.

The result was confirmed more than a week after the November 4 midterm election and is one of the biggest upsets of the night. Mississippi has elected Republicans to the Senate for decades, and President Donald Trump won the state by more than 22 points in 2024.

How close the Scott Colom race was

Colom, 43, a local prosecutor, finished with 49.2% of the vote against 48.7% for Hyde-Smith, who has served in the Senate since 2018. Hyde-Smith conceded in a video posted on X on Wednesday evening and wished him well.

"While this was not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters," she said. Supporters had waited several days for the count to finish, and the margin was so small that neither side claimed victory until the final figures came in.

The BBC said the win gives Democrats 55 seats in the 100-member Senate, with a tight race in Alaska still to be called. Democrats have also taken control of the House of Representatives.

A link to 1874

The last Black senator from Mississippi before Colom was Blanche Bruce, who was elected in 1874 and served until 1881. It has taken about 150 years for the state to elect another.

Colom gave his victory speech at Tougaloo College, a historically Black college near Jackson, in front of hundreds of supporters. "They did not believe a moment like this was possible, but I kept the faith," he said, adding that the win was something "we did" together.

At the Mississippi headquarters of the NAACP, the civil rights group, board chairman Leon Russell called it an amazing result and credited grassroots organising in the Black community rather than big spending.

"There was not a whole lot of money, but there was a whole lot of organising," Russell said. Another supporter in the room, Amber Thomas, told the BBC she was overwhelmed with joy. "When you fight, you win," she said.

The campaign that flipped the seat

Several factors helped Colom in a state few expected Democrats to win. The BBC highlighted these:

• He visited all 82 of Mississippi's counties.
• He reached out to Republican voters, even speaking to people queuing outside a Trump rally.
• He attacked Hyde-Smith's support for Trump's tariffs and nicknamed her "Cindy High Prices".
• He turned her remark that voters should "pick another protein" when asked about rising beef prices into a viral advert.

Hyde-Smith's campaign tried to paint Colom as a puppet of the liberal donor George Soros, whose family has helped fund his past campaigns. The 67-year-old Republican was criticised for making few public appearances.

A national wave against Republicans

Colom's win was part of a wider swing. Democrats also flipped Senate seats in Republican strongholds including Texas, South Carolina, Kansas and Iowa. Exit polls cited by the BBC pointed to voter anger over the economy, tariffs and the war with Iran under President Trump.

For Asia, a Democratic Senate could matter for trade. Tariff policy has hit exporters across the region, including Thailand, and Congress has a say over trade deals and sanctions. Our earlier explainers on the US midterm elections and the Trump midterm defeat cover what the new balance of power could change, and our report on the Thailand US tariff deal explains where Thai exporters stand.

Colom is expected to take his seat when the new Congress meets in January.

Image: Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, where Scott Colom made history. Photo by Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.