Colom takes Mississippi Senate seat from Hyde-Smith in narrow win
The Democrat secured a half-point victory after campaigning at a Trump rally, a move the president praised in a White House interview on Thursday.
By Isaac Medina ·
President Trump credited Sen.-elect Scott Colom for his efforts to win over Republican voters following the Democrat's upset victory in the Mississippi Senate race. Speaking to sports commentator Stephen A. Smith in a White House interview on Thursday, Trump said, “I don’t know the gentleman, but I give him credit.” The president noted that he held a rally in the state with lines stretching 10 miles, and that Colom campaigned within that queue. Trump added, “I give him a lot of credit for that.”
Colom’s campaign shared a video on social media showing the senator-elect at the rally in Corinth, Mississippi, just days before Election Day. In the clip, Colom asked voters which issues were most important to them. Many respondents cited high prices as a primary concern, while others voiced opposition to the war in Iran and tariffs. By Thursday night, the video had received nearly 239,000 views on Facebook and approximately 555,000 views on Instagram.
The victory came after a week of counting late-arriving and affidavit ballots. Decision Desk HQ projected on Wednesday that Colom defeated incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by a margin of about half a point. The result was a major shock, as DDHQ’s pre-election forecast gave Colom only a 9 percent chance of winning. Mississippi is a state that Trump carried by 23 points in the 2024 election.
Observers noted some indicators of a competitive race before Election Day. In the final days of the campaign, Trump held rallies primarily in historically Republican states and districts, including a stop in the Magnolia State to support Hyde-Smith. The president continued to assert in Thursday's interview that Republicans lost because he was not on the ballot, a claim he made despite frequently telling voters to pretend he was.
Colom is the first Black senator elected by popular vote in Mississippi. He is the third Black senator in the state's history, following two legislature-appointees from the Reconstruction era. Black residents make up more than one-third of Mississippi's population.
The two candidates have a previous history. In 2023, Hyde-Smith blocked a confirmation hearing for Colom after President Biden nominated him for a federal judgeship. Now, Colom has prevented Hyde-Smith from securing a second full term in the Senate.
The race concluded with Colom taking the seat, marking a shift in the state's representation in the upper chamber. The result stands as a data point in the changing political dynamics of the South.
