# Republican Setbacks Swell in the South With Stinging Loss in Mississippi

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/republican-setbacks-swell-in-the-south-with-stinging-loss-in-mississippi/
- Published: 2026-11-13T01:12:10+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-13T02:27:24+00:00
- Original publisher: New York Times (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/12/us/politics/republican-defeats-south-mississippi-midterms.html
- Topics: Elections, Government, Politics, World

## Key points

- Scott Colom won Mississippi’s first Democratic Senate victory in 44 years.
- Democrats made gains in several Southern states.
- Republicans are weighing whether the region’s political loyalties are shifting.

## Summary

Scott Colom’s victory over Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi capped a string of Democratic gains across the South, challenging the assumption that the region is reliably Republican. The result, alongside losses in other Southern races, has prompted Republicans to consider whether the party is losing voters and ground it once took for granted.

Colom became the first Democrat to win a Mississippi Senate race in 44 years and the state’s first Black senator since the 1800s. Black residents make up about 40 per cent of Mississippi’s population, and Colom also performed strongly in DeSoto County, a mostly white Memphis suburb won by Donald Trump by 24 points in 2024, carrying it by about eight points. Democrats’ gains came during a favourable midterm cycle nationally, so their durability in future elections remains uncertain.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.