Scott Colom’s narrow Senate victory in Mississippi has upended expectations in a state long dominated by Republicans, ending a Democratic drought that stretched back to 1982. The result also makes Colom the first Black person elected by Mississippi to the US Senate since Reconstruction.

Left-leaning accounts describe the race as a close contest whose final outcome depended on counting absentee and provisional ballots for more than a week. Colom won 49.2% to incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith’s 48.7%, according to figures cited by CBS, while an independent candidate took 2.1%.¹ Hyde-Smith ultimately conceded, saying: “While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters.”²

The accounts agree that the victory carried historical weight: Mississippi had not sent a Black senator to Washington since 1875, and Colom is described as the first Black man popularly elected to the Senate from the state. They also cast the race as evidence of a wider Democratic advance, with one report linking Republican losses to voter concerns about the economy and the Trump administration’s policies.²

Their explanation for Colom’s win, however, puts particular emphasis on his campaign’s Mississippi-first approach rather than national party strength. He visited all 82 counties, highlighted household costs and used a viral response to Hyde-Smith’s remarks about beef prices to sharpen his economic message. His campaign argued that the state deserved more national attention: “We’re a state that has to matter, that this country will never reach its potential if it ignores places like Mississippi.”³

The same reporting notes that Colom began as an underfunded long shot and received substantial national Democratic help only late in the campaign. That contrast supports the view that national political conditions aided his candidacy, but that personal outreach—from colleges and small businesses to Trump supporters’ gatherings—helped turn a competitive race into a historic upset.³