JACKSON
Scott Colom, a local district attorney, defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's U.S. Senate race Wednesday, marking a major upset in a reliably red state. The Associated Press called the race with Colom winning by fewer than 5,000 votes.
Colom's victory ends a 46-year drought for Democrats in Mississippi's federal offices—the state has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1980. He is the first Black senator from Mississippi since the 1870s.
Colom campaigned on accessible healthcare, saving rural hospitals and affordability, emphasizing a bipartisan approach. He told supporters at an October canvassing event, "We didn't have hundreds of millions of dollars to come in and spend—we did it going door to door, festival to festival, earning support."
He swept traditionally Democratic areas like Hinds County, home to Jackson, and broke through in Republican strongholds. In Forrest County, where President Trump won with approximately 58 percent of the vote in 2024, Colom gained traction. His hometown of Columbus in Lowndes County, also right-leaning, backed him.
Colom has served as district attorney for Mississippi's 16th judicial district since 2016, a role in a Republican-majority area that shaped his push for bipartisan solutions.
Hyde-Smith, the state's junior senator, blocked Colom's 2023 nomination for a federal judgeship by then-President Joe Biden, citing donations from billionaire George Soros to an independent PAC supporting his district attorney campaign. Colom clarified the Soros money went to the PAC, not his campaign.
Hyde-Smith also attacked Colom over legislation protecting female athletes. Colom responded in a letter saying he did not know what she referenced and had signed a statement against criminalizing doctors using law enforcement resources.
Mississippi's senior senator, Republican Roger Wicker, signaled in 2023 he would support Colom's judicial nomination, a contrast with Hyde-Smith's opposition.
