Even Scott Colom’s Backers Were Skeptical. Here’s How He Won in Mississippi.

Scott Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney and seventh-generation Mississippian, has defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith to become Mississippi’s senator-elect. His victory is a rare Democratic breakthrough in a state that has not elected a Democratic senator since the 1980s, and a major shift in expectations about where Democrats can win.

Colom spent more than a year campaigning while many donors and party figures doubted he could succeed. He had previously been blocked from a federal judgeship by Hyde-Smith, and drew on a family history of public service: his mother was a judge and his father a lawyer and former Republican political activist. He said the campaign’s lack of early attention helped him earn support over time.