Mississippi goes blue: Scott Colom flips red state, becoming its first Black senator in over 140 years

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Democrat Scott Colom (left) and Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. The 43-year-old Colom was projected on November 11 to have narrowly won the US Senate race, becoming the first African American elected to the chamber from Mississippi in more than 140 years. — AFP pic

WASHINGTON, Nov 12 — In a historic upset, Democrat Scott Colom has won his US Senate race in traditionally conservative Mississippi, networks projected Wednesday, making him the first African American elected to the chamber from the southern state in more than 140 years.

Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney, prevailed over Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in perhaps the most extraordinary seat flip of an already extraordinary US midterm election, in which Democrats crushed the Republicans to reclaim the majority in both chambers of Congress.

Colom’s win in the deep South adds sting to the stunning rebuke of President Donald Trump as voters around the country shunned his Republican Party, even in states that had not sent a Democrat to Washington in decades.

The latest win, called Wednesday by US news outlets that included CNN, NBC and CBS, will give Democrats 55 seats in the 100-member Senate, with 44 for Republicans and one race – in the state of Alaska – still outstanding.

The midterms result was a personal humiliation for 80-year-old Trump as a Democratic wave swept through the Republican heartland, leaving him as a lame duck president for the remaining two years of his term.

The Democratic flipping of Congress signals an end to Trump’s stranglehold on US politics and gives Democrats the power to block legislation, probe his administration and thwart his appointments.

Including Mississippi now, Democrats flipped eight Senate seats that had been held by Republicans, scoring historic breakthroughs in South Carolina, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Texas and Maine – several of which had not changed hands for decades.

Hyde-Smith, in office since 2018, conceded the race in a video posted to X.

“While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters,” the 67-year-old senator said.

“I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state.”

The race in ruby red Mississippi went down to the wire – a surprise for many observers who doubted the scale of the Democratic blue wave riding on mounting anger over Trump’s harsh immigration policy, the war in Iran and rising costs of living.

CNN called it for Colom on Wednesday, eight days after election night, with some 99 per cent of the vote in and the Democrat ahead of Hyde-Smith by 49.2 per cent to 48.7 per cent, a difference of 4,585 votes.

“Blue Mississippi is here,” the US Senate’s top Democrat Chuck Schumer proclaimed on X after the projections came in.

“Scott Colom is the only person who could’ve gotten this done.

“I knew it from the moment I met him.”

Colom is set to become the first Democratic senator from Mississippi in nearly 40 years, and first Black senator from the state since the Reconstruction era after the Civil War.

Mississippi has no law mandating a recount in the event of a tight election.

But legal teams from both candidates are reported to be ramping up for potential challenges. — AFP