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Scott Colom becomes Mississippi’s third black US senator in history
Democrat Scott Colom has won a close Senate race in Mississippi, becoming the state’s first black US senator in more than 150 years and only its third in history. His victory is significant in a deeply conservative state that has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1982.
Colom follows Hiram Revels, who served from 1870 to 1871, and Blanche Bruce, whose term ran from 1875 to 1881; both were Republicans. Their service came before Jim Crow laws entrenched racial segregation across the South. Colom’s campaign mobilised young voters and Mississippi’s large black population, while students at historically black Jackson State University said many had voted for the first time and backed him.
In short
- Scott Colom will be Mississippi’s first black senator since 1875.
- He is the state’s third black senator in history.
- Young voters and the state’s black population helped mobilise support.
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Originally published by BBC World as “Before Scott Colom, these two men were the last black US senators from Mississippi”.