Democrat Scott Colom has won Mississippi's U.S. Senate race, becoming the state's first Black senator since Reconstruction, the Associated Press reported Wednesday, according to CNBC.
Colom, a local district attorney, defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and will join the Senate in the new Congress. Two sources close to Colom's campaign told CNBC that Hyde-Smith called him late Wednesday afternoon to concede. "While this is not the outcome we worked for, or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters," Hyde-Smith said in a video posted on X. "I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state," she said in the video, according to CNBC. NPR reported that Colom won by fewer than 5,000 votes and that the result ended a stretch of more than 40 years without a Democrat in the seat.
Why the race mattered
CNBC noted that national analysts had not considered the victory likely before Election Day. CNBC described the result as part of a series of stunning Democratic wins in this midterm cycle. Democrats will have a majority of at least 55 seats in the Senate after flipping at least eight seats from Republicans, CNBC reported, and have also won enough seats to take control of the House when the next Congress begins in January. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York wrote on X, "Blue Mississippi is here," and "Scott Colom is the only person who could've gotten this done. I knew it from the moment I met him." Alaska is the only remaining Senate race still to be called; CNBC said Democratic nominee Mary Peltola, a former House member, held a narrow lead over Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. This account does not invent later vote totals or a call in Alaska.
The White House, in the same NPR report, warned that Democratic investigations planned for next year could cross into "blatant criminality," previewing a fight over congressional oversight once Democrats take control. That warning is reported here as part of the political aftermath of the midterms, not as a finding about any investigation.