PICKED ANOTHER SENATOR

Democrats Finally Score Most Stunning Election Upset of All

A ruby red state has elected its first Democrat to the Senate since 1982.

Democrat Scott Colom has finally been called as winner of the Mississippi Senate race—more than a week after voting closed.

CNN and NBC News both called the race for Colom over Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith after days of counting, instantly propelling Colom into the history books.

It is the first time Mississippi has elected a Democrat to the Senate in more than 40 years, since 1982.

It is also the first time Mississippi will have a Black senator since the Reconstruction era after the Civil War.

For days, election officials across the state counted provisional ballots as the results remained razor-thin. The deadline to remedy affidavit ballots was November 10, so it was then just a matter of time before the final count came in.

At the time NBC called the race, Colom led Hyde-Smith by 4,669 votes with 98.8 percent of the vote counted. If that margin holds, he will have won the state by half a percentage point.

Throughout the process, Colom largely maintained a lead over Hyde-Smith that continued to grow.

The Democratic district attorney remained confident that when the process was finished and all eligible ballots were counted, he would become the next senator of Mississippi.

As of Wednesday afternoon, he had a more than 4,400-vote lead, making it largely impossible for Hyde-Smith to catch up.

Mississippi also does not have laws for a recount in a tight race, so the only course of action once the count is complete would be a lawsuit. It’s unclear whether Republicans will take further action.

Colom mounted an underdog campaign that received little outside support or attention, as it was initially considered a safe red seat.

But as the race tightened and voters soured on Donald Trump and Republicans, political groups started putting in cash.

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In the end, the Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC aligned with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, spent $2.2 million to support Colom. The Republican affiliated Senate Leadership Fund spent more than $1.6 million to help Hyde-Smith.

Trump also rushed down to the state to campaign for the GOP senator in the final stretch.

Colom ran a campaign where he made his pitch to a broad coalition of voters, even showing up to speak with attendees waiting outside the president’s rally there.

His campaign ad “Pick Another Protein,” which used Hyde-Smith’s own words from an interview about buying cheaper options amid soaring costs, went viral.

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In the end, polling showed the race tightening in a state that went for Trump by more than 22 points in 2024, and Hyde-Smith won by 10 points in 2020.

Colom’s victory gives Democrats at least 55 seats in their incoming Senate majority come January. The race in Alaska was the only one besides Mississippi that had not yet been called.

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Sarah Ewall-WicePolitical Reporter

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