Democrat Scott Colom unseats Cindy Hyde-Smith in shocking Mississippi Senate win

Colom takes victory by razor-thin margin in state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982

Democrat Scott Colom defeated Cindy Hyde-Smith, the incumbent Republican senator, to become the first Black senator in Mississippi elected since reconstruction, in a stunning upset after more than a week of vote counting in one of the country’s most reliably red states.

Colom opened up a narrow lead over Hyde-Smith late on election night. His lead widened as election officials counted provisional ballots. Hyde-Smith was not able to close the gap.