Scott Colom Becomes Mississippi’s First Black Senator Since 1881

Mississippi just delivered one of the biggest political surprises of the 2026 midterm elections. Democrat Scott Colom has defeated Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, flipping a seat that many political analysts considered safely Republican and making history in a state with a deeply complicated racial past.

On 11 November, CNN and the Associated Press projected Colom as the winner after more than a week of ballot counting. His victory gives Democrats a projected 55 seats in the next Senate, with Alaska’s result still unresolved at the time of the announcement.

According to Mississippi Today, Colom led Hyde-Smith by approximately 4,645 votes when AP called the race, securing 49.2% compared with her 48.7%.

Hyde-Smith subsequently conceded. But the significance of this election goes well beyond another Democratic victory. Mississippi has not sent a Black senator to Washington since Reconstruction, and Colom is the first Black candidate ever elected directly to the Senate by the state’s voters.

Mississippi’s 145-Year Wait for Another Black Senator

To appreciate the significance of Colom’s election, we need to revisit Mississippi’s history. In 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels became the first Black person to serve in the United States Senate. Five years later, Blanche K. Bruce, who was born into slavery, began a full six-year term representing Mississippi.

Bruce served until 3 March 1881. He was elected by the Mississippi legislature, as senators were before the introduction of direct elections.

For the next 145 years, Mississippi did not send another Black representative to the Senate. That absence is particularly striking in a state where Black Americans make up a substantial proportion of the population and played a central role in the civil rights movement.

Now Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney, has broken that barrier. He did it by defeating an incumbent in a state Donald Trump carried by nearly 23 percentage points in 2024.

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Cindy Hyde-Smith’s ‘Pick Another Protein’ Remark Comes Back to Haunt Her

Colom built his campaign around the cost of living, particularly rising grocery prices, fuel costs and the economic pressures facing working families.

One of his most effective campaign advertisements featured Hyde-Smith responding to concerns about expensive beef by suggesting that consumers had other proteins to choose from.

Colom’s campaign turned that remark into a memorable political attack. The advertisement featured voters reacting to Hyde-Smith’s comments before declaring that they would rather choose another senator. And the message caught on.

Colom even campaigned with a taco truck, using the protein controversy to draw attention to affordability. The issue was bigger than beef. Colom argued that tariffs, expensive fuel and rising household bills had left Mississippians struggling while Washington politicians failed to respond adequately.

His proposals included raising the federal minimum wage, protecting rural hospitals and seeking greater congressional oversight of tariffs and military action.

The victory illustrates how economic frustrations can disrupt established voting patterns, even in states where one party has dominated for decades.

Scott Colom: “There’s so many people that have faith in Mississippi at times where it seemed impossible. People like Medgar Evers … He had faith that a day like this was possible” https://t.co/i05n07gRLn

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 12, 2026

Hyde-Smith Blocked Colom’s Judgeship. Now He’s Taking Her Senate Seat

There is another extraordinary twist to this election. In 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Colom to serve as a federal district judge in northern Mississippi. The nomination attracted bipartisan support, including backing from Mississippi’s other Republican senator, Roger Wicker.

But Hyde-Smith opposed the appointment in 2023 and withheld her approval under the Senate’s judicial nomination procedures. The nomination never advanced to confirmation.

Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith on election night: “I blocked Scott Colom from being a judge, and you blocked him from being a senator.” Hyde-Smith went on to say: “And Kamala Harris learned a lesson that we may not quite enjoy her company in Mississippi. I think she learned that.”

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) November 12, 2026

Hyde-Smith defended her decision to block Colom’s judicial nomination by questioning his record and political associations. Three years later, the very man she kept off the federal bench has defeated her for her Senate seat.

And can we just say, Hyde-Smith looks like she walked straight out of central casting for a film about white supremacists in the segregation-era South. The irony of a Black man making history by unseating the senator who blocked his judicial career is almost too perfect.

Colom insists his campaign was never about revenge, but the voters certainly delivered a remarkable plot twist.

A Victory With Deep Historical Symbolism

Colom’s win also produced a striking result in Forrest County, Mississippi. The county takes its name from Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, who became a leader of the early Ku Klux Klan.

According to the Mississippi Free Press, Colom carried the traditionally Republican county by approximately 54% to 44% in the vote count reported on 5 November.

The symbolism is astonishing. A Black candidate winning a county named after a Confederate general associated with the Klan is a remarkable contrast with the state’s history of racial exclusion.

Colom also gained support beyond traditional Democratic strongholds, demonstrating that his campaign reached voters who had previously backed Republicans.