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Democratic nominee Scott Colom has finally made history as he flipped Mississippi's Senate seat blue for the first time in 44 years.
The midterm battle was hanging by a thread as Colom was neck-to-neck with longtime Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith, who assumed office in 2018.
asserted
who → take → 2018
The last time Mississippi chose a new Democratic senator was 1947, and the winner then was a staunch segregationist.
asserted
winner → choose → senator
Colom, a 43 year-old local prosecutor, capitalized on the state's large black population, discontent with the economy and the Trump-backed Hyde-Smith's missteps as she sought a second full term.
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she → capitalize → term
At the time the race was called Wednesday evening, Colom was leading Hyde Smith by just 4,669 votes and under half a percentage point.
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Colom → call → point
The Associated Press called the contest Wednesday in Colom's favor after local elections officials spent several days processing absentee and provisional ballots, called affidavit ballots in Mississippi.
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officials → call → Mississippi
The battle had turned into an unexpected nail-biter in an election that has cost Republicans the Senate majority as Democrats now flipped the eighth seat blue.
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Democrats → turn → seat
The Magnolia State has not had a Democratic senator in over four decades, but leading up to election day, Democrats had grown optimistic about an upset this year as Hyde-Smith has been caught off guard.
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Smith → have → guard
Democrat Scott Colom managed to flip Mississippi's Senate seat blue for the first time in 44 years
Trump-backed GOP incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith assumed office in 2018
President Trump carried the state by 23 points in 2024 and Hyde-Smith won her last race by seven points.
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Smith → manage → points
Colom attracted particular notice for some of the year's most widely circulated ads.
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Colom → attract → ads
After Hyde-Smith, 67, seemed to brush off high beef prices by saying consumers could choose other proteins, Colom cut a 30-second spot depicting incredulous voters saying they'd 'pick another senator instead.'
On election night, Hyde-Smith nearly declared victory to a crowd of supporters at a watch party but stopped just short, saying she would emerge as the winner later by Wednesday morning.
'This is a much longer night than we thought it would be,' the Republican said, adding: 'I assure you I will continue to be your US Senator.
uncertain
I → seem → you
But Colom proved her wrong.
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her → prove → ?
The Democrat picked up the state by less than a point, as the AP declared him the winner over a week after the final ballots were cast.
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ballots → pick → point
In his campaign, Colom sought to get high-profile surrogates like Kamala Harris and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to boost votes.
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surrogates → seek → votes
Colom was also endorsed by ex-president Bill Clinton, who visited the Magnolia State in a midterm rally on October 30.
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who → endorse → October
The visit appears to have helped more than a rally held by the president Trump in support of Hyde-Smith, during which she made a bizzare nine-word appearance.
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she → appear → appearance
While Hyde-Smith is facing a tougher-than-expected race against Colom, the Cook Political Report still ranks the Senate race as 'likely Republican'
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Report → face → Republican
'I'm here because Cindy's doing great, but I just got to make sure,' he told the crowd.
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he → do → crowd
'I can't take a chance.'
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I → take → chance
In an interview in late October, Geoff Pender, politics editor at the non-profit newsroom Mississippi Today, had told the Daily Mail that he was surprised by how tight the battle had become.
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battle → tell → Mail
'This was not expected to be a race,' he said.
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he → expect → ?
'Hyde-Smith early on probably took it for granted.
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Smith → take → it
The Democrat sought to get high-profile surrogates like Kamala Harris and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to boost votes, while Hyde-Smith had Trump rally for her to increase her re-election chances.
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Trump → seek → chances
He 'put in the shoe leather' and 'worked hard,' Pender said, but acknowledged that Colom 'still faces an uphill battle' he could only win if Democrats 'supercharge and overperform on turnout.'
There is some irony to Hyde-Smith finding herself flat-footed against Colom.
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Smith → put → Colom
In 2022, then-President Joe Biden nominated Colom to be a US District Court judge in the Northern District of Mississippi.
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Biden → nominate → Mississippi
Mississippi's senior Republican Sen. Roger Wicker and former Gov. Haley Barbour, who is also a former national Republican chairman, backed the nomination.
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who → back → nomination
Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith has to fight an unexpectedly close race for the Magnolia State's Senate seat.
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Smith → have → seat
She only appeared on stage for less than a minute during the Monday night event
Hyde-Smith, however, blocked Colom's confirmation under the Senate tradition that members can spike a president's choices for federal judicial positions in their home state.
Colom said his Senate bid was never about getting even with Hyde-Smith.
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bid → appear → Smith
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer celebrated Colom's victory in a post to social media.
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Schumer → celebrate → media
Scott Colom is the only person who could've gotten this done.
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this → get → ?
I knew it from the moment I met him.
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I → know → him
Trump won by double digits in each of his three presidential contests, but in 2023, Republican Governor Tate Reeves managed to win reelection by a margin of just 3 percentage points.
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Reeves → win → points
Colom and other black party leaders and strategists insisted throughout 2026 that he could narrow the gap with strong black turnout, Republican voter discontent and an uptick in Democrats' usual share of the white vote in Mississippi.
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he → insist → Mississippi
Results showed strong turnout in the Mississippi Delta and its concentration of majority black counties.
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Results → show → counties
Colom was endorsed by former president Bill Clinton, who visited the Magnolia State in a midterm rally on October 30
But nearly all of the state moved leftward from the 2024 election, when Trump carried Mississippi by nearly 23 points.
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Trump → endorse → points
Then-Governor Phil Bryant first appointed Hyde-Smith, who was state agriculture commissioner, to the Senate in 2018 when Cochran resigned.
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Cochran → appoint → 2018
She won a special election runoff in 2018 and a full term in 2020.
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She → win → 2020
Both times she defeated Democrat Mike Espy, a former US agriculture secretary who'd also been Mississippi's first Black congressman since Reconstruction.
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who → defeat → Reconstruction
During the extended vote count, Colom acknowledged the historic nature of doing what Espy could not.
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Espy → acknowledge → nature
But he said he sees his place more in terms of other Mississippians, especially its youngest residents, than his individual story.
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he → say → story
'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,' he said, 'and they want to be United States senator, that nobody says because of anything I've done that they shouldn't get a chance.'
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they → do → chance
The Aporia
