Democrat Scott Colom flips Mississippi Senate seat in upset
Why it matters: The win ends a GOP Senate streak in Mississippi dating to 1982 and makes Colom the state's first Black senator since 1874.
Democrat Scott Colom won Mississippi's US Senate race after days of ballot counting, defeating Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in a result that US media outlets projected Wednesday. The upset in a state Donald Trump carried by nearly 23 points in 2024 capped a broader Democratic sweep that delivered control of both chambers of Congress. Colom, 43, is a district attorney and becomes the first Democrat elected to a Mississippi Senate seat since 1982. He also becomes the state's first Black senator since Blanche Bruce won election in 1874. Hyde-Smith, first elected in 2018, had led most polling, and Trump campaigned for her late in the race.