Mississippi Senate: Democrat Scott Colom claims victory in narrow runoff
Colom defeats incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by a few thousand votes after a week-long count, ending a 40-year Republican hold on the seat.
By Bianca Shevchenko ·
Scott Colom, a Democrat and district attorney, has won the U.S. Senate seat from Mississippi. The Associated Press called the race for him on Wednesday, marking a narrow victory over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith. The win comes after a prolonged count of absentee and provisional ballots that extended beyond election night.
The race concluded with a margin of only a few thousand votes, making it the closest Senate contest in the nation this cycle. Mississippi has not sent a Democrat to the Senate in more than four decades. The state also has not elected a Black senator since the Reconstruction era, despite having the highest share of Black voters in the country at nearly 40%.
Hyde-Smith conceded her defeat in a social media video posted shortly after the official call. She stated, "While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters." She added that she congratulated Colom and wished him well in representing the state.
Colom’s campaign focused heavily on the cost of living in the state’s rural, agriculture-driven economy. He criticized Hyde-Smith’s handling of prices, referring to her as "Cindy High-Prices." In contrast, Hyde-Smith, a cattle rancher and former state agriculture commissioner, maintained a low profile in the state and rarely engaged with local reporters while serving in Washington.
A pivotal moment in the campaign emerged when Hyde-Smith suggested voters could choose other proteins if beef prices were high. Colom’s team released a viral advertisement featuring residents reacting to that comment. The ad concluded by urging voters to "pick another senator." This message resonated in a state where millions in investment from both parties poured in during the final weeks of the race.
National attention on the contest grew only in the closing days of the election. President Donald Trump held a rally in the state during the final week, while former Vice President Kamala Harris and Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock visited to support Colom. Before these visits, the Cook Political Report rated the race as Likely Republican.
Colom noted in an interview earlier this month that national Democrats had previously underinvested in the state. He said, "The reality is, Mississippi has never been a lost cause, we've been a betrayed cause." He argued that the party spent hundreds of millions in other states while spending almost nothing in Mississippi until the late stages of the campaign.
