On November 11, 2026, Democrat Scott Colom won the election to the U.S. Senate for the state of Mississippi. He defeated Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, who sought reelection for a second term. The counting of votes was long and complex, with state authorities taking days to ascertain the results in a dispute considered fierce. At the beginning of the vote count, Colom led by only a few dozen votes. The result makes the Democrat the first black senator of Mississippi since the era of Reconstruction, a period following the American Civil War. The last black candidate elected to the Senate in the state was Blanche Bruce in 1874.
Colom, a 43-year-old former public prosecutor, became the first Democrat to occupy a senatorial chair in Mississippi since John Stennis in 1982. Hyde-Smith, 67, had been elected for the first time in 2018. During the campaign, Colom focused on reaching various social groups through public meetings and visits to housing projects. He mentioned that voters felt "betrayed" by the policies of President Donald Trump, citing issues such as war in Iran and rising fuel prices. The victory takes place in a context where Democrats gained control of both Houses of Congress in the days before the elections. The other Mississippi senator, Roger Wicker, is a Republican.