Democrat Scott Colom unseated Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi by fewer than 5,000 votes after more than a week of counting absentee and provisional ballots — flipping a state Donald Trump carried by 23 points and handing Democrats their 55th Senate seat.
The Associated Press called the race on Wednesday. Colom led narrowly on election night, and his margin grew as election officials processed outstanding absentee and affidavit ballots over the following days. With 99% of ballots tallied, Colom sat at 49.2% to Hyde-Smith's 48.7%. Mississippi has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1982 or a Black senator since Reconstruction.
The mechanics matter. NPR reported that Colom won "the closest Senate race in the country" after more than a week of counting "outstanding, absentee ballots and affidavit — or provisional — ballots." The Guardian confirmed that Colom "opened up a narrow lead over Hyde-Smith late on election night" and that "his lead widened as election officials counted absentee and provisional ballots." In a race decided by a fraction of a percent, the composition and handling of late-counted ballots determined the winner. That is a fact, not a theory — and it is exactly the kind of infrastructure question that deserves scrutiny regardless of party.
The outlets diverged on framing. The Guardian cast the result as part of a "national wave of anger at Donald Trump's administration" and accused the president of attempting to "drastically redraw Black majority districts, attempting to dilute the largely Democratic voting blocs." NPR emphasized a "surge of Black voter turnout" and Colom's cost-of-living message. The New York Post called it a "massive rebuke of Trump." The Post Millennial stuck to the numbers.
What the establishment coverage largely skipped: Colom ran on several positions that sound more populist than partisan. Per the Post Millennial, his agenda includes banning members of Congress from trading stocks, requiring "a vote of Congress before America goes to war," and voting "to take back Congress's power over tariffs." He also called for a pause on data center construction.
Colom also has a personal grievance with Hyde-Smith that predates the race. As The Guardian noted, Joe Biden nominated Colom to a federal judgeship in Mississippi's northern district, and Hyde-Smith blocked him from receiving a confirmation hearing.
Hyde-Smith conceded Wednesday. "While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters," she said in a video posted on social media.
NPR reported that Colom criticized national Democrats for neglecting the state until the final days: "The reality is, Mississippi has never been a lost cause, we've been a betrayed cause. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars in other states. They spent almost nothing in Mississippi." High-profile surrogates — Bill Clinton, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Raphael Warnock — arrived only in the race's closing stretch. Trump rallied for Hyde-Smith in the final week.
Hyde-Smith ran a low-visibility campaign. NPR noted she "rarely spoke to reporters in Washington and had minimal presence in the state." When asked about high beef prices, the cattle rancher and former state agriculture commissioner replied: "You have so many other proteins to choose from." Colom hammered her on cost of living, branding her "Cindy High-Prices."
The open question: a Republican incumbent who won by 10 points in 2020, in a state Trump carried by 23, loses by half a point after late absentee and provisional ballots break heavily against her. Maybe that is a legitimate shift in voter sentiment driven by pocketbook frustration. Maybe the extended counting process in close races demands tighter rules and faster reporting. Both can be true at once.
