Prosecutor Scott Colom became the first Democratic elected for a new Senate term by Mississippi since 1947, defeating the Republican opponent in a tight election.
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12/11/2026
by
Lusa
O u.S. Attorney Scott Colom became the first Democratic elected for a new term in the Senate by the state of Mississippi since 1947, by defeating the Republican opponent in a lively election.
Colom's tight victory, declared by CNN and Associated Press tonight, after a long process of counting votes, represents a drastic change in Mississippi — a state that for generations was mostly controlled by white conservatives.
Colom will also be the first African-American senator since the period of Reconstruction at the end of the American civil war in the 19th century.
The outcome is joined by a strong rejection in President Donald Trump's mid-term elections of November 3, whose party suffered defeats in several states dominated by Republicans in recent decades, Texas and South Carolina.
Colom's victory was declared after the local electoral authorities spent several days suing the votes for absence and provisional votes.
The last time Mississippi elected a new Democratic senator was in 1947 — and at that time the winner was a fierce segregationist, in a state where racial divisions have long shaped politics and local society.
Colom, a 43-year-old local prosecutor, was successful in mobilizing the expressive black population of the state, capitalizing on the discontent with the economy and the slippages committed by the Republican opponent Cindy Hyde-Smith, who sought her second full term.
With the victory in Mississippi, the Democrats now have 55 senators for 44 Republicans, to whom they won eight seats in the mid-term elections.
To decide is still the race in Alaska, where the Democratic candidate leads the count by about 4,000 votes.
In the House of Representatives, the Democratic majority is in 257 delegates to 169, according to CNN projection, and when there are still several races to decide.
The leader of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer, received on Monday at the Capitol the newly elected senators of his party, on the first meeting after regaining control of the two chambers of Congress in the mid-term elections.
Among those present were Abdul El-Sayed and James Talarico, senators elected by Michigan and Texas, respectively — two of the new faces of the Democratic bench who attended the Capitol to participate in orientation sessions.
Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Chris Pappas (New Hampshire), Roy Cooper (North Carolina), Juliana Stratton (Illinois), Peggy Flanagan (Minnesota), Annie Andrews (South Carolina), Josh Turek (Iowa), Adam Hamilton (Kansas) and Troy Jackson (Maine).
The elected legislators visited the Capitol to familiarize themselves with the functions they will take on January 3, when the new Congress is established, and to begin to define their main lines of action before President Donald Trump's administration.
Although the current Congress still holds the Republican majority — awaiting the inauguration of the elected legislators on November 3rd — the Capitol corridors gathered veterans and newcomers.
The Democratic leader in the Senate also met with his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries. Both released a joint statement stating that the Americans rejected the extremism of the MAGA movement, led by Trump, and demanded profound changes.
“ The Democrats of the House of Representatives and the Senate have been given a clear mandate to tackle with determination the cost of living crisis, to wage the reckless and unnecessary war in Iran, to significantly extend access to affordable healthcare and to hold criminals responsible for unprecedented corruption in the country,” said Schumer and Jeffries.
Both leaders ensured that “the 3rd of January begins a new stage” and that Democrats are “united and ready to lead”.