Mississippi Democrat flips US Senate seat in stunning upset after 140 years

Why This Matters

Key context: <p>In a historic upset, Democrat Scott Colom has won his US Senate race in traditionally conservative Mississippi, networks projected Wednesday, making him the first African American elected to the chamber from the southern state in more than 140 years.</p> <p>Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney, prevailed over Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in perhaps the most extraordinary seat flip of an already extraordinary<a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2043312"> US midterm election</a>, in which Democrats crushed the Republicans to reclaim the majority in both chambers of Congress.</p> <p>In a prayerful and solemn speech, Colom praised Mississippi’s long tradition of Black activism and faith in progress.</p> <p>“Mississippi, our prayers have often changed the course of history,” Colom told the jubilant crowd of his supporters in Jackson on Wednesday night. “God didn’t want us to get it the easy way. He wanted us to get it the Mississippi way.”</p> <p>Colom’s win in the deep South adds sting to the stunning rebuke of President Donald Trump as voters around the country shunned his Republican Party, even in states that had not sent a Democrat to Washington in decades.</p> <p>The latest win, called Wednesday by US news outlets that included <em>CNN,</em> <em>NBC</em> and <em>CBS,</em> will give Democrats 55 seats in the 100-member Senate, with 44 for Republicans and one race — in the state of Alaska — still outstanding.</p> <p>The midterms result was a personal humiliation for 80-year-old Trump as a Democratic wave swept through the Republican heartland, leaving him as a lame duck president for the remaining two years of his term.</p> <p>The Democratic flipping of Congress signals an end to Trump’s stranglehold on US politics and gives Democrats the power to block legislation, probe his administration and thwart his appointments.</p> <p>Including Mississippi now, Democrats flipped eight Senate seats that had been held by Republicans, scoring historic breakthroughs in South Carolina, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Texas and Maine —several of which had not changed hands for decades.</p> <p>Hyde-Smith, in office since 2018, conceded the race in a video posted to X.</p> <figure class='media w-full w-full media-- media--embed media--uneven media--tweet' data-original-src='https://x.com/cindyhydesmith/status/2120658269945344349'> <div class='media__item media__item--twitter '><span> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <a href="https://twitter.com/cindyhydesmith/status/2120658269945344349"></a> </blockquote> </span></div> </figure> <p>“While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters,” the 67-year-old senator said. “I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state.”</p> <p>The race in ruby red Mississippi went down to the wire — a surprise for many observers who doubted the scale of the Democratic blue wave riding on mounting anger over Trump’s harsh immigration policy, the war in Iran and rising cost of living.</p> <p><em>CNN</em> called it for Colom on Wednesday, eight days after election night, with some 99 per cent of the vote in and the Democrat ahead of Hyde-Smith by 49pc to 48.7pc, a difference of 4,585 votes.</p> <p>“Blue Mississippi is here,” the US Senate’s top Democrat Chuck Schumer proclaimed on X after the projections came in.</p> <p>“Scott Colom is the only person who could’ve gotten this done. I knew it from the moment I met him.” Colom is set to become the first Democratic senator from Mississippi in nearly 40 years.</p> <figure class='media w-full w-full media-- media--embed media--uneven media--tweet' data-original-src='https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/2120725418332577853'> <div class='media__item media__item--twitter '><span> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSchumer/status/2120725418332577853"></a> </blockquote> </span></div> </figure> <p>The first Black senator the United States ever elected, Hiram Revels, was from Mississippi and served during the Reconstruction era after the Civil War.</p> <p>In his speech Colom referenced how Revels, a minister by training, inspired other politicians to support Colom’s Senate run through his powerful oratory.</p> <p>“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,” Colom said.</p> <p>“It’s local people that have faith that Mississippi can make progress, and it’s local people like the people out here who had faith that we could win this election,” he added.</p> This development from dawn.com highlights ongoing changes in the sector.