Democrat Scott Colom Unseats Sen. Hyde-Smith in Mississippi Upset

Democrat Scott Colom has defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race, the Associated Press, NBC News and Fox News all projected Wednesday, eight days after Election Day. Colom won by fewer than 5,000 votes, flipping a seat in a state President Trump carried by 20 points in 2024, according to Fox News.

Colom will be the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Mississippi in 44 years, Fox News and NBC News reported. The AP reported on X that he will also be Mississippi’s first Black U.S. senator since post-Civil War Reconstruction.

BREAKING: Democrat Scott Colom defeats Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, flipping a Senate seat in a state President Trump won by 20 points in 2024.

Colom wins by fewer than 5,000 votes, adding another Democratic victory to the 2026 midterm results.

He… pic.twitter.com/3XdwLF0BR2

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 11, 2026

A Long Count Ends

The race stayed too close to call for more than a week. Colom held a razor-thin lead over Hyde-Smith as more votes were counted and remained confident throughout that he would prevail, NBC News reported. The Guardian noted the race was called eight days after the midterm election.

Hyde-Smith conceded in a video message Wednesday evening, NBC News reported. “While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters,” she said, according to NBC News. “I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state.” Colom’s campaign told NBC News that Hyde-Smith had called him to concede.

Hyde-Smith also said her campaign “worked tirelessly to ensure every legally cast vote was counted and that the people of Mississippi received a fair and transparent election,” NBC News reported.

What It Means for the Senate

Colom’s win means Democrats will hold at least 55 Senate seats next year, with only Alaska’s race still uncalled, according to NBC News. NBC News described Colom as the eighth Democrat to flip a Republican-held Senate seat this year.

Hyde-Smith, a former state agriculture commissioner, was appointed to the Senate in 2018 and won a full term in 2020, NBC News reported. She campaigned as a reliable conservative, touted Trump’s endorsement and cast Colom as a “radical” progressive, according to NBC News. Trump traveled to Mississippi eight days before the election, the network reported.

Colom, a district attorney, attacked Hyde-Smith’s votes on Medicaid funding, tariffs and the war with Iran, NBC News reported. His campaign also ran a viral video built around Hyde-Smith’s comment that Mississippians facing high beef prices “have so many proteins to choose from,” according to NBC News.

Outside money poured in on both sides. The Democratic super PAC Senate Majority PAC spent nearly $2.1 million on ads, and the GOP’s Senate Leadership Fund answered with a similar-sized buy that called Colom “too liberal” and “too radical,” NBC News reported, citing the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sens. Cory Booker and Raphael Warnock campaigned for Colom, according to NBC News.

The two candidates had a history. Hyde-Smith blocked Colom’s nomination for a federal judgeship during the Biden administration, and Colom recently told NBC News he had forgiven her.

Colom was expected to address supporters at a victory party Wednesday night, NBC News reported.

Sources

• The Guardian
• NBC News
• Fox News on X
• The Associated Press on X
• The Associated Press on X (Reconstruction)

Reporting by Daily Beltway.