Democrat Scott Colom has won Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race, defeating Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith and becoming the state’s first Black senator since Blanche K. Bruce left office in 1881.
The result also returns a Mississippi Senate seat to Democrats for the first time since 1982 and gives the party at least 55 seats in the chamber next year.
The Associated Press called the race on Wednesday after late-counted absentee and provisional ballots expanded Colom’s advantage to 4,669 votes out of 962,237 counted, a margin of about half a percentage point.
Hyde-Smith conceded and congratulated Colom, saying she respected the decision of Mississippi voters.
Colom, 43, is the district attorney for Mississippi’s 16th Circuit Court District and built his campaign around affordability, healthcare and criticism of Hyde-Smith’s support for President Donald Trump’s economic agenda.
CBS News reported that he received 49.2% of the vote to Hyde-Smith’s 48.7%.
The race had not been viewed as competitive for much of the campaign.
Trump carried Mississippi comfortably in 2024, while Hyde-Smith had held the Senate seat since 2018.
Colom’s lead nevertheless grew as remaining ballots were processed following the November 3 election.
Colom’s victory carries a distinction beyond the party flip.
Bruce, who represented Mississippi from 1875 to 1881, was elected by the state legislature under the system used before the 17th Amendment established direct Senate elections nationwide.
That makes Colom the first Black senator from Mississippi chosen by the state’s voters.
The Senate’s historical records also show that Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate when he took office in 1870.
Bruce followed in 1875 and became the first Black senator to serve a full term.
Colom told supporters at Tougaloo College that he had “kept the faith” despite doubts about the campaign’s prospects.
His win formed part of a broader Democratic Senate advance in the 2026 midterms, with the party projected to hold at least 55 seats while the Alaska race remained unresolved.