JACKSON, Miss. — Eight days after polls closed, Mississippi finally has its answer, and it is one few political observers would have predicted a year ago. Democrat Scott Colom, a 43-year-old local prosecutor, defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith on Wednesday, Nov. 11, according to the Associated Press, becoming the state's first Black U.S. senator since post-Civil War Reconstruction and handing President Donald Trump's party one of the most stunning losses of the 2026 midterm cycle. Hyde-Smith conceded Wednesday evening in a short video, telling supporters, "I respect the decision of Mississippi voters."

Key Takeaways

• The result: The AP called Mississippi's Senate race for Democrat Scott Colom on Nov. 11 after county officials finished processing absentee and affidavit ballots, and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith conceded that evening.
• The history: Colom becomes Mississippi's first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction, and the AP reports it is the first time the state has chosen a new Democratic senator since 1947.
• How close it was: AP figures showed Colom ahead by roughly 2,500 votes for days before the late ballots widened his lead to several thousand out of more than 950,000 cast.
• What happens next: Counties must certify results by Nov. 13, and the Secretary of State is scheduled to declare statewide results on Dec. 3; Mississippi has no automatic recount law.

A Count That Kept the Nation Waiting

The race was too close to call on election night and stayed that way for more than a week. According to AP figures reported by Democracy Docket, Colom led Hyde-Smith 467,930 to 465,356 on the evening of Nov. 6, a gap of just 2,574 votes. By Monday, Nov. 9, the margin stood at 2,536.

The outcome hinged on ballots that are rarely decisive: absentee ballots and affidavit ballots, which is what Mississippi calls provisional ballots. Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Mike Hurst estimated after the election that about 17,000 affidavit ballots and more than 3,000 mail-in ballots were outstanding statewide. Affidavit voters had until 5 p.m. on Nov. 10 to provide photo identification, and mail ballots postmarked by Election Day had to arrive by the same deadline.

Once local election officials worked through those ballots, the AP called the race Wednesday. In the AP count reported by WLOX Wednesday afternoon, Colom had about 49.2 percent of the vote to Hyde-Smith's 48.7 percent, with independent Ty Pinkins taking about 2 percent, a margin of roughly 4,700 votes.

Hyde-Smith Concedes

Hyde-Smith, 67, posted a two-minute concession video online after calling Colom, according to a spokesman cited by the AP. "While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters," she said. "I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state."

The concession closed off what had been shaping up as a legal battle. In the days after the election, Republicans demanded that county officials "segregate and preserve" provisional ballots, a move Colom's lawyers said had "no basis in Mississippi law." Hurst warned that Republicans would "act swiftly" if they believed the law was not being followed. No lawsuit challenging the result had been reported by the time Hyde-Smith conceded.

Hyde-Smith was appointed to the Senate in 2018 by then-Gov. Phil Bryant after Thad Cochran resigned. She won a special runoff that year and a full term in 2020, both times defeating Democrat Mike Espy, who was Mississippi's first Black congressman since Reconstruction.

Who Is Scott Colom?

Colom has served as a district attorney in northeast Mississippi and is the son of a onetime Republican who worked for President Ronald Reagan, according to the AP. His path to the Senate carries an unmistakable twist: in 2022, President Joe Biden nominated him to be a federal judge for the Northern District of Mississippi, with support from Republican Sen. Roger Wicker and former Gov. Haley Barbour. Hyde-Smith blocked the nomination using the Senate's "blue slip" tradition.

Colom has insisted the campaign "was never about getting even" with her. Instead, he ran a kitchen-table race, including a 30-second ad hammering Hyde-Smith over high beef prices, and courted voters in deep-red territory, including outreach around a late-October Trump rally in Corinth. His closing ad was filmed at the Jackson home of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers.

During the extended count, Colom told reporters he hoped his candidacy would show young Black Mississippians that "nobody says because of anything I've done that they shouldn't get a chance." He scheduled a victory celebration in Jackson for Wednesday night.

Why the Result Matters Beyond Mississippi

Mississippi has the largest share of Black voters of any state, but it has been reliably Republican in federal races for decades. Trump carried it by nearly 23 points in 2024. The AP reported that nearly every part of the state moved left compared to 2024, powered in part by strong turnout in the Mississippi Delta, and described the outcome as "a decisive midterm rebuke" of the president.

National Democrats poured resources into the race. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer helped raise money, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker gave financial support, and former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned for Colom. "Scott Colom is the only person who could've gotten this done," Schumer posted after the call.

The win adds to a Democratic Senate majority secured in last week's midterms and will bolster the party's argument that its path to power can run through the South. It also raises the stakes in Alaska, the last major Senate race still being contested, where the campaign of Democrat Mary Peltola has gone to court over rejected mail ballots.

What Comes Next

Mississippi's 82 counties face a Nov. 13 deadline to submit certified results to Secretary of State Michael Watson, who is scheduled to declare statewide results on Dec. 3. Unlike most states, Mississippi has no automatic recount provision, so any challenge would generally have to go through the courts, and the U.S. Senate retains constitutional authority to judge the elections of its own members.

For now, Hyde-Smith's concession appears to have settled the matter. When the new Congress convenes in January, Colom will take his seat as the first Democrat Mississippi has newly sent to the Senate in nearly 80 years, a result that for many in the state carries a weight far beyond a single seat in Washington.