From TIME · Connor Greene · · 1m 40s
Democrat Scott Colom wins Mississippi Senate upset
District attorney Scott Colom defeats incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith in one of 2026's tightest midterm races, becoming Mississippi's first Black senator since 1874.
In brief
District attorney Scott Colom defeats incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith in one of 2026's tightest midterm races, becoming Mississippi's first Black senator since 1874. Democrat Scott Colom defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's Senate race, becoming the state's first Black senator since…
Colom defeats Hyde-Smith in tight race
Democrat Scott Colom, a district attorney for Mississippi's sixteenth Judicial District, defeated incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. The Associated Press called the race on Wednesday.
Historic victory for Mississippi Democrats
Colom becomes the first Black Senator elected in Mississippi since eighteen seventy-four and the first Democratic Senator elected there since nineteen eighty-two.
Race remained razor-thin for days
The Mississippi race stayed too close to call for days after the election, with candidates split by as low as zero point one percent with more than ninety-five percent of votes counted.
Colom attacks Hyde-Smith on prices
Colom's campaign focused on lowering consumer prices. He criticized Hyde-Smith for comments brushing off concerns about rising beef prices, calling her Cindy High Prices.
“so many proteins to choose from”
Campaign clash over gender and abortion
Hyde-Smith attacked Colom over gender-affirming care, calling him the most radical liberal. Colom, who chairs the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, opposed gender-affirming surgeries for minors.
Colom attends Trump rally to campaign
In an unorthodox strategy, Colom attended Trump's rally in Mississippi to talk to voters about key issues. He said he converted some voters he spoke to at the event.
“I'm gonna show up and I'm gonna listen, and when on Nov. 3 we pick a new United States Senator, I'm gonna represent them a lot better”
Hyde-Smith's 2023 block of Colom's judgeship
In twenty twenty-three, Hyde-Smith blocked Colom from a federal judgeship after President Joe Biden tapped him for the position, citing his support for transgender rights.
The essence
Democrat Scott Colom defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's Senate race, becoming the state's first Black senator since 1874 and first Democratic senator since 1982.
