Scott Colom Makes History in Mississippi. Two Other Black Men Did the Same 150 Years Before Him – WTOP News
Colom won after several days of ballot counting, ending a 146-year gap since Mississippi last sent a Black senator to Washington.
- On Thursday, Scott Colom defeated incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith to become Mississippi's first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction, after several days of close ballot counting confirmed his victory.
- Colom, a district attorney from Columbus, campaigned on accessible healthcare and affordability while emphasizing bipartisanship. He believed Mississippians prioritize "their kids to have good schools" and job opportunities over party loyalty.
- Hyde-Smith previously blocked Colom's federal judicial nomination in 2023 by withholding the Senate blue slip required for advancement. On election night, she told supporters, "I blocked Scott Colom from being a federal judge, and you blocked him from being U.S. senator."
- National Democratic leaders directed $1.2 million in late-cycle advertising two weeks before the election, while figures including former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Bill Clinton campaigned for Colom across the state.
- Mississippi has not sent a Black senator to Washington in more than 140 years, while Black Americans comprise 38% of the state's population. Colom's victory represents a historic shift for many Black Americans with deep ties to the state.
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Scott Colom makes history in Mississippi. Two other Black men did the same 150 years before him – WTOP News
When Scott Colom takes the oath of office for the U.S. Senate in January, he will not be the first Black senator from Mississippi to make history. But he will be the first in nearly 150 years and the first chosen by voters rather than state lawmakers. Colom, a Democrat, was declared the winner Wednesday over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. Here are some things to know about the two previous Black senators from Mississippi, Hiram Rhodes Revels …
Democrats’ Senate Majority Expands to 55 as Scott Colom Claims Historic Win in Mississippi
Scott Colom has made history as Mississippi’s first Democratic senator since 1982 — and its first African American senator since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. Colom narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who conceded defeat in a video posted on social media Wednesday afternoon. Hours later, Colom addressed supporters at a victory party at the historically Black Tougaloo College in Jackson. Sen.-elect Scott Colo…
In a state where Trump won by 23 points in 2024, an African-American district attorney conquered the Senate with a cost-of-living campaign — and a viral ad.
The election of Democrat Scott Colom as senator for Mississippi breaks with the law of nature that the American South always votes Republican. The...
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