Mississippi elects first Black US senator in over 140 years as Democrat flips seat

Scott Colom breaks 140-year barrier with historic Mississippi Senate win. (Photo/AP)

Democrat Scott Colom has won Mississippi's closely contested United States Senate race, unseating Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in a historic upset that delivers the state its first African-American senator since Reconstruction.

Colom, 43, local district attorney, prevailed over Hyde-Smith following several days of counting absentee and provisional affidavit ballots, clinching what observers consider the most astonishing seat flip of a midterm election that saw Democrats sweep back control of both chambers of Congress.

The victory represents a political earthquake in Mississippi, a conservative stronghold governed predominantly by white Republicans for generations and which last chose a new Democratic senator in 1947.

Capitalising on discontent

Colom built his campaign around the state's substantial Black electorate, broader economic anxiety, and Hyde-Smith's vulnerabilities.

Colom focused sharply on the economic fallout of the government’s policies, notably tariffs and the Iran war, which he argued hit Mississippi farmers hard, whilst framing Hyde-Smith as ineffective in Washington.

"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 during the campaign's final stretch.

High turnout across the Mississippi Delta's majority-Black counties, paired with an improved Democratic share of the white vote, drove the breakthrough.

Colom drew national backing from Democratic figures including Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, Maryland Senator Angela Alsobrooks, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, with former President Bill Clinton and former Vice-President Kamala Harris joining final campaign efforts.

Acknowledging the milestone, Colom pledged: "My job is to do well enough as the next United States senator that the next time some young black boy or girl has the work ethic, the vision, and the values... nobody says because of anything I've done that they shouldn't get a chance."

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Source: TRT