JACKSON, Miss. — Democrat Scott Colom has defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, completing one of the biggest upsets of the 2026 midterm elections and becoming the state’s first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction.
The Associated Press called the race shortly before 5 p.m. Central on Wednesday after additional results from Jackson County expanded Colom’s lead. NBC News also projected Colom as the winner, and Reuters reported that Hyde-Smith had lost her reelection bid.
Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney and seventh-generation Mississippian, will be the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Mississippi since 1982. His victory adds another seat to the Democratic majority formed after last week’s sweeping midterm gains.
Why the race was called
The contest remained unresolved for more than a week as counties reviewed absentee and provisional ballots, known in Mississippi as affidavit ballots. Colom began the post-election count with only a tiny advantage, but his margin grew as late results arrived from across the state.
AP said the decisive update came from Jackson County, a Republican-leaning area where Hyde-Smith needed a strong performance to close the gap. Instead, Colom narrowly won that batch of votes, leaving too few outstanding ballots for the incumbent to overtake him under the expected count.
County certification is due Friday. Mississippi does not provide an automatic recount process; a candidate seeking a review would need to ask a court to order one. Election calls by news organizations are projections based on available results and are separate from the official certification.
A historic political shift
Mississippi sent two Black senators to Washington during Reconstruction: Hiram Revels, who in 1870 became the first Black member of the U.S. Senate, and Blanche K. Bruce, who served from 1875 to 1881. Colom will be the first Black senator elected from the state in the modern era.
His campaign built a coalition around Mississippi’s large Black electorate while improving Democratic performance among white, rural and suburban voters. Colom focused on health care, the cost of living and what he described as Hyde-Smith’s lack of effectiveness in Washington.
The victory is particularly striking because President Donald Trump carried Mississippi by roughly 20 percentage points in 2024. Hyde-Smith, a close Trump ally, had been seeking a second full term after first entering the Senate by appointment in 2018.
What comes next
Colom will join a Senate controlled by Democrats when the new Congress convenes in January. His win strengthens the party’s position while reinforcing arguments that Democrats can compete again in parts of the Deep South when turnout is high and campaigns emphasize local economic issues.
In his closing message, Colom said he intended to represent all Mississippians and build a coalition spanning rural, suburban and urban communities. The immediate next step is completion and certification of the county results.
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