Scott Colom becomes Mississippi's first Black senator in more than 150 years, defeating Trump ally Hyde-Smith

Democrat Scott Colom has made history in the US state of Mississippi, becoming the deeply conservative state's first Black senator in more than 150 years. His win is also the first Democratic victory in a Mississippi Senate race in more than four decades.

Senator-elect Colom's narrow victory was declared late on Wednesday, more than a week after the US midterm elections, in which Democrats firmly seized control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

With 99 percent of ballots counted late on Wednesday, Colom defeated Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, the incumbent and an ally of President Donald Trump, by fewer than 5,000 votes.

Hyde-Smith had been ahead in polling in Mississippi, where Trump won by 23 points in 2024. Democrats last won a Senate seat in the state in 1982, 43 years ago.

Colom's win puts Democratic Senate control at 55-44. Another tight race in Alaska is still being counted, where Democrat Mary Peltola is also leading by a slim margin.

Only 14 Black senators have ever been elected or appointed in the US, and Colom will be one of seven new Black senators. Despite having one of the largest Black populations in the country, Mississippi has had no statewide elected Black official in more than 140 years; its last Black senator served in 1874.

On Wednesday, after the result was called, Colom told supporters at his victory party at the historically Black Tougaloo College in Jackson that he had come close to giving up. 'There were times when I was tired, and I felt like I couldn't keep going, but I kept the faith,' he said. 'I had the courage to believe in Mississippi. I had the courage to understand that we can show the country that Mississippi matters.'

On Thursday, Colom thanked supporters in a series of messages on X, posting: 'This victory belongs to all of us, and I am honored to be your new senator-elect.'

Colom, 43, is a lawyer who served as a Mississippi prosecutor from 2016 until this year. He is married to Nadia Colom and has two children. His identical twin brother, Andrew, played a major role in his campaign. Born in Columbus, Colom comes from a family of lawyers.

In interviews, Colom has said he decided to run to look out for people, especially on affordability. He accused Hyde-Smith of neglecting the state and selling out Mississippians.

In 2015, Colom became the first Black American elected district attorney for the 16th Judicial District, which includes the white-majority counties of Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee and Oktibbeha. One of his most notable cases was Eddie Lee Howard, a Black man who spent 26 years on death row for murder but was released in 2021 for lack of evidence; after a judge dismissed the murder charge, Colom confirmed prosecutors were dropping it.

In 2022, Colom was nominated as a US district judge by former President Joe Biden, but his nomination was blocked by Hyde-Smith, who claimed he supported transgender athletes and had received funding from left-wing billionaire George Soros.

One of Colom's campaign advertisements drew wide attention. In February, a TV reporter asked Hyde-Smith, a rancher, how Republicans were addressing rising beef prices amid the US-Israel war on Iran. Hyde-Smith suggested Mississippians find alternatives, saying: 'You have so many proteins to choose from.' The response drew outrage. Colom's advertisement urged people not to pick another protein, but to 'pick another senator instead'.