Democrat Scott Colom wins Mississippi Senate race in surprise victory for party

What the report says

Democrat Scott Colom has won Mississippi’s US Senate race, according to BBC World News, in a result that surprised many observers in a state long dominated by Republicans. The victory gives Democrats another Senate seat and raises their majority to 55, pending the outcome of the still-uncalled Alaska race.

BBC reported that Colom defeated incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith by a narrow margin of only a few thousand votes. Because the race was so close, officials did not call it until more than a week after election day, while ballot counting continued for votes received by the deadline. The result also makes Colom the first Black Mississippian elected to the US Senate in more than 140 years, and the first Democrat from Mississippi to win a Senate seat since 1982.

The win is notable because Mississippi is considered deeply conservative and Donald Trump carried the state by a wide margin in the 2024 presidential election, according to the BBC report. More broadly, the article places the race in the context of a strong Democratic showing in the 2026 midterms, with the party also taking Senate seats in other Republican-leaning states.

BBC said polling and post-election analysis pointed to voter concerns about the economy and the war involving Iran under President Trump as possible factors behind the broader Democratic gains.