GOP governor and prominent Dems congratulate senator-elect on flipping Mississippi seat blue

Mississippi voters elected Democrat Scott Colom to the US Senate, defeating Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in a result called more than a week after Election Day. The victory flips the seat to the Democrats and is historically significant: Colom is the first Democrat elected to a Mississippi Senate seat since 1982.

Republican Governor Tate Reeves and prominent Democrats, including Bill Clinton, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders, congratulated Colom. He will be Mississippi’s third Black senator and its first Black senator elected by voters; the two earlier Black senators were chosen by the state legislature before direct election became law. Colom has said he will focus on issues including technology, corruption, jobs and families.