Democrat Scott Colom has won Mississippi's US Senate race, defeating Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in a result that marks another bruising setback for President Donald Trump in the midterm elections.
Colom, a local prosecutor, becomes the state's first Democratic senator since 1947 and its first black senator since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. His narrow victory was confirmed on Wednesday (November 11) after a prolonged ballot counting process.
A seismic shift in Mississippi politics
The outcome is a significant change for a state that has been controlled mostly by white conservatives for generations, despite having the largest share of black residents of any US state. The result adds to a decisive midterm rebuke of President Trump, whose party suffered defeats in several Republican-controlled states including Texas and Georgia.
Hyde-Smith, 67, conceded in a two-minute video posted online, saying: "While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters. I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state."
Colom's path to victory
A spokesman for Hyde-Smith said she called Colom to congratulate him before the video was shared publicly. Colom scheduled a victory celebration with supporters in Jackson on Wednesday night.
Colom, 43, capitalised on Mississippi's large black population, discontent with the economy and missteps by Hyde-Smith as she sought a second full term. "They actually deserve a senator that will listen to them, that actually cares about what they think, actually cares about what they're going through," Colom said in the campaign's closing stretch.
During the campaign, Colom said he could represent all of Mississippi, a state where racial divisions have long defined its politics and society. "It's got to be about having a party that represents rural America again, suburban America, urban America — a party that makes sure we actually deliver for voters in ways that make their lives better," he added.
