His margin of fewer than 5,000 votes caps a midterm wave that has handed Democrats control of both chambers of Congress.
asserted
that → cap → Congress
Democrat Scott Colom has won the US Senate race in Mississippi, becoming the first Black senator elected from the southern US state in more than 140 years, US networks projected on Wednesday.
asserted
networks → win → Wednesday
Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney, defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.
asserted
Colom → defeat → Smith
It was perhaps the most remarkable seat flip of a midterm election in which Democrats won back the majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
asserted
Democrats → win → Representatives
CNN, NBC and CBS called the race on Wednesday, eight days after election night.
asserted
CNN → call → night
With about 99 per cent of the vote counted, Colom led Hyde-Smith by 49.2 per cent to 48.7 per cent, a margin of 4,585 votes.
asserted
Colom → count → votes
“Mississippi, our prayers have often changed the course of history,” Colom told a jubilant crowd of supporters in Jackson, the state capital, on Wednesday night.
asserted
Colom → change → night
“God didn’t want us to get it the easy way.
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us → want → it
He wanted us to get it the Mississippi way.”
asserted
us → want → it
In a prayerful, solemn speech, he paid tribute to Mississippi’s long tradition of Black activism and faith in progress.
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he → pay → progress
Hyde-Smith, 67, who has held the seat since 2018, conceded in a video posted on X.
“While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters,” she said.
asserted
she → hold → voters
“I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state.”
asserted
he → want → state
A blow for Trump
The result in one of the most solidly Republican states deepens the setback for US President Donald Trump.
asserted
result → deepen → Trump
Voters across the country turned away from his Republican Party, even in states that had not sent a Democrat to Washington in decades.
asserted
that → turn → decades
Democrats will now hold 55 seats in the 100-member Senate and Republicans 44.
asserted
Republicans → hold → Senate
One race, in Alaska, has yet to be called.
asserted
race → have → Alaska
Including Mississippi, Democrats flipped eight Republican-held Senate seats, with breakthroughs in South Carolina, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Texas and Maine.
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Democrats → include → Carolina
Several of those seats had not changed hands for decades.
asserted
Several → change → decades
Control of both chambers of Congress gives Democrats the power to block legislation, investigate the administration and stop Trump’s appointments.
asserted
Control → give → appointments
The defeat also leaves the 80-year-old president as a lame duck for the final two years of his term.
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defeat → leave → term
The race went down to the wire, surprising many observers who had doubted how far the Democratic wave would reach.
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wave → go → observers
The wave was driven by mounting anger over Trump’s hardline immigration policy, the war in Iran and the rising cost of living.
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wave → drive → living
“Blue Mississippi is here,” Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, wrote on X after the projections came in.
asserted
projections → write → X
“Scott Colom is the only person who could’ve gotten this done.
uncertain
this → get → ?
I knew it from the moment I met him.”
asserted
I → know → him
The first Black senator ever elected in the United States, Hiram Revels, was from Mississippi.
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senator → elect → Mississippi
He served during the Reconstruction era that followed the American Civil War.
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that → serve → War
In his speech, Colom described how Revels, a minister by training, used his powerful oratory to win the backing of other politicians for his run for the Senate.
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Revels → describe → Senate
“That’s an example of the power of prayer, and through our history, there are so many people that lifted this state up through the power of prayer in very dark times,” Colom said.
asserted
Colom → ’ → times
“It’s local people that have faith that Mississippi can make progress, and it’s local people like the people out here who had faith that we could win this election,” he added.
uncertain
he → ’ → election
The Aporia
