From BBC News · · 1m 10s
Mississippi elects first black senator in 150 years
Democrat Scott Colom wins a close race to become Mississippi's third black US senator ever, following Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce in the 19th century.
In brief
Democrat Scott Colom wins a close race to become Mississippi's third black US senator ever, following Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce in the 19th century. Scott Colom becomes Mississippi's first black US senator since 1875, mobilising young voters and the state's large black population in a deeply conservative state…
Colom wins historic Mississippi race
Democrat Scott Colom won a close race to become Mississippi's first black US senator for more than one hundred fifty years. He is the third black senator in the state's history.
Two predecessors from the 1800s
Hiram Revels served from eighteen seventy to eighteen seventy-one as the first black person ever in the US Senate.
Young voters and black turnout key
Colom's victory came through mobilising young people and Mississippi's large black population, who turned out in high numbers. Many first-time voters at Jackson State University, a historically black college, backed him.
Colom invokes Revels' legacy of prayer
In his victory speech, Colom referenced Hiram Revels, a minister and Civil War chaplain who gained support through his words.
“That's an example of the power of prayer, and through our history, there are so many people that lifted this state up through the power of prayer in very dark times.”
The big picture
Scott Colom becomes Mississippi's first black US senator since 1875, mobilising young voters and the state's large black population in a deeply conservative state.
