Running on platforms of healthcare access, affordability, and protecting rural medical facilities, Colom relied on intensive door-to-door campaigning rather than early national financial backing. His grassroots strategy allowed him to sweep Democratic strongholds like Hinds County while simultaneously peeling away conservative ground in Forrest County, an area Donald Trump easily carried in 2024. Hyde-Smith initially expressed confidence in retaining her position before formally conceding on Wednesday night. Colom's razor-thin victory represents the first unseating of an incumbent Mississippi senator since 1942.
Key points
Grassroots outreach focused on local healthcare and affordability helped secure an upset…: Grassroots outreach focused on local healthcare and affordability helped secure an upset without early national funding.
The outcome marks the first time voters in Mississippi have unseated an incumbent U.S. se…: The outcome marks the first time voters in Mississippi have unseated an incumbent U.S. senator since 1942.
Cindy Hyde-Smith conceded the race on Wednesday night after previously blocking Colom's f…: Cindy Hyde-Smith conceded the race on Wednesday night after previously blocking Colom's federal judicial nomination in 2023.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
JACKSON, Miss. — When Scott Colom, a local district attorney, announced his candidacy late last year, it seemed like a long shot in a ruby red state.
But by October of this year, a month before votes came pouring in for him, he was confident.
"We didn't have hundreds of million dollars to come in to spend – we did it going door to door, festival to festival, earning support," Colom said at a canvassing event on the Mississippi coast. "We're gonna shock a lot of people, but I'm not gonna be shocked. The people of Mississippi are behind this campaign: they understand Mississippi matters."
Colom narrowly defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, according to a race call by The Associated Press on Wednesday evening, marking one of the most stunning upsets of the midterm elections this year.
Flipping red counties with a focus on affordability
Colom won by less than five thousand votes, with a small fraction of the vote still left to be counted.
While he swept areas of Mississippi that have traditionally leaned left, like Hinds County, home…
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