Voters react to Scott Colom’s victory in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - A historic victory in Mississippi as Democrat Scott Colom was declared the winner of the U.S. Senate race, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.

For the first time since 1982, the state of Mississippi will have a Democrat in the U.S. Senate.

The race was so close, it went to a recount. But on Wednesday evening, Hyde-Smith called Colom and conceded the election.

Voters in DeSoto County shared their reaction to his victory with Action News 5.

“It is exciting. I’m so excited. I’ve waited for a week for those votes to be counted! I’m super excited,” Democratic voter Alex Nichols said, “For me personally, it shows we have a voice. Our voices were heard.”

For a week now, ballots have been counted and recounted. Colom and Hyde-Smith were separated by just a few thousand votes. Hyde-Smith, in the U.S. Senate since 2016, thanked her supporters in a video statement posted to social media.

“Serving you in the United States Senate has been one of the proudest moments of my life,” she said, “While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the wish of Mississippi voters.”

The blue wave sweeping Colom into office is surprising to GOP voters like Jackson Zwirlein, who has grown up in a Republican-dominated Magnolia State.

“It’s always been red my whole life,” he told Action News 5, “I’m 24, and it’s blue finally. Seems to be happening everywhere in the United States, not just Mississippi right now.”

Colom, a 43-year-old former prosecutor, judge, and district attorney, is a 7th-generation Mississippian who ran on a platform to lower costs, save the state’s hospitals, and create more jobs.

He’s now the winner of the closest Senate race in the country. His victory expands the Democrats’ majority in Congress to 55 seats.

“We’re where we need to be,” said Alex Nichols. “He’s for growth. He’s for family. He’s for community. And that’s what we need.”

There’s a certain irony to Colom’s big win. In 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Colom for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, a nomination that Hyde-Smith single-handedly blocked.

She disagreed with his views on transgender rights and gender affirming healthcare, along with his connections to George Soros.

Now, U.S. Senator-elect Scott Colom is set to become Mississippi’s first Black U.S. senator in more than a century.

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