Democrat Scott Colom unseated Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) in one of the biggest upsets in the 2026 midterm elections.
Colom led with 49.2% when the Associated Press called the race at 5:58 p.m. EST. Hyde-Smith came in behind the Mississippi Democrat at 48.7%. President Donald Trump won the state in 2024 with 60.9% of the vote and Hyde-Smith in 2020 with just 54.1%.
Colom’s upset marks the first time a Democrat has won a U.S. Senate race in the state since 1982 and follows over a week of vote-counting, with Colom taking aim at national election forecasters who rated the race heavily in Hyde-Smith’s favor for much of the campaign, singling out the Cook Political Report.
“At some point, we have to talk about … ‘prognosticators’ who had me and other southern candidates labeled as solid R for much of the campaign cycle,” Colom wrote Monday on social media.
Colom argued that those ratings made fundraising more difficult and contributed to what he described as the national Democratic Party’s neglect of Southern candidates.
“They’re only a reflection of the past and mysteriously avoid any accountability when they’re wrong,” he wrote.
Hyde-Smith’s campaign was bogged down by some unforced errors, including a comment given to local media that people “have so many proteins to choose from” when asked about rising beef prices.
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Colom, a local district attorney, was denied a judgeship by Hyde-Smith, who refused to return her blue slip, a Senate procedure that allows senators to reject or approve judicial nominations to their home state.
Trump visited the state just weeks before the election, raising alarm bells for his appearance in a solidly red state, and was coupled with national Democrats buying advertising time in Mississippi.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
