Mississippi Senate stunner: Hyde-Smith concedes to Democrat Scott Colom

This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. Democrat Scott Colom is set to become Mississippi’s next senator after Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith conceded Wednesday, notching a major victory for his party in the ruby red state. “While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters,” she said in a video posted to social media Wednesday evening. “I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state.” Hyde-Smith, who was endorsed by President Trump, was seeking a second term as the Magnolia State’s junior senator. A Democrat has not won a Senate seat in the state since 1982, and the incumbent was favored to win the race. The race was too close to call the week after Election Day as the Democrat held a razor-thin lead over the incumbent. The Hill’s partner Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) projected the race for Colom shortly after Hyde-Smith conceded Wednesday. He notched 49.18 percent of the vote while the incumbent garnered about 48. 72 percent, with 95 percent of the vote tallied by DDHQ. Colom’s victory further cushions Democrats’ newfound majority in the Senate after flipping key red seats in Texas, South Carolina, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio and Iowa. The battleground Alaska Senate seat is still up for grabs, though Democrat Mary Peltola has pulled ahead of Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in recent days. Democrats in Mississippi expressed confidence as the final votes were tallied, though the race could be headed for the courts. “I am very happy with where we stand. I’m confident once the process plays out, where we are, where the ballots are, we’re going to win,” Colom told reporters the Wednesday after Election Day. There is no automatic recount procedure in the state, and Hyde-Smith’s narrow loss is likely to spark legal action from the Republican. Lawyers for the Senate GOP’s campaign arm have already demanded that the state’s election officials preserve records and provisional ballots. Lawyers for Colom, a district attorney, called the move “unlawful.” The Democrat notched notable support from national Democrats in his quest to flip the seat, including an endorsement from former President Obama. Former Vice President Harris also stumped for him ahead of the election. Trump visited the state in the days ahead of the election to boost Hyde-Smith. Colom’s victory points to frustration among Republican voters in the red stronghold amid rising costs and the president’s souring approval ratings. Colom also homed in on Black voters in the state that boasts the highest population in the country. “We’ve been gifted an opportunity,” Colom told The Associated Press in October, pointing to the political climate and the strong base of Black voters in the state. He is the first Black senator from the state since the Reconstruction Era. The senator-elect has a tense history with Hyde-Smith. In 2023, the Mississippi Republican blocked his lifetime appointment to a federal district court, The New York Times reported in May. He told the outlet that he likely wouldn’t have run for Congress if he had been confirmed to the court. Hyde-Smith was appointed to the Senate in 2018 after then-Sen. Thad Cochran (R) resigned. She won a full term in 2020 by about 10 percentage points. Cook Political Report and DDHQ forecasted the seat would almost surely remain in Republican hands in the lead-up to the election. Updated at 6:34 p.m. EST Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.