Democrat Colom wins Mississippi Senate seat, becomes state's first Black senator since 1874

Detailed summary

Nov 11 - Democratic challenger Scott Colom defeated incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith in the Mississippi election for the US Senate, media projected on Wednesday, making him…

Nov 11 - Democratic challenger Scott Colom defeated incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith in the Mississippi election for the US Senate, media projected on Wednesday, making him the Southern state's first Black senator since the Reconstruction era that followed the US Civil War.

The result was a stunning upset in the heavily Republican state and expanded on the national drubbing the Democrats delivered to President Donald Trump's Republicans in the November 3 midterm elections. It was also a historic victory for African Americans in a former slave state that was a hotbed of repression during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

The Mississippi victory gives the Democrats a 55-44 advantage in the 100-member Senate, with the winner in one Senate race from last week's election — in Alaska — yet to be determined. The Democrats have also gained 41 seats in the House of Representatives so far, holding an advantage of 254 to 168 with 13 races yet to be called.

Republicans lost control of both chambers, leaving Trump facing a Democratic-controlled Congress for the first time in either of his two terms and presenting the opposition party with a chance to block highly partisan legislation and investigate Trump's administration.

The Mississippi Senate race was one of the final races to be called after the elections.

The latest media-tabulated results showed Colom ahead by 0.5 percentage point, or some 4,600 votes.

Addressing a gathering of supporters who celebrated his victory with "Senator-Elect Colom" signs, Colom said there were times his long-shot campaign felt defeated but "I had to have faith."

"There were times that I couldn't get donors to answer the phone," Colom said. "They did not believe a moment like this was possible. But I kept the faith."

"There were times when I was tired, and I felt like I couldn't keep going, but I kept the faith, and that is another tradition of our state," he said.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Straits Times. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.