Democrat Scott Colom celebrates Senate victory: ‘In Mississippi, our prayers often change the course of history’

Jubilant supporters of Scott Colom hugged, danced and wiped away tears Wednesday night on the campus of Tougaloo College as they celebrated his election as Mississippi’s first Black U.S. senator since a few years after the Civil War.

“For me, this journey started with a prayer. And in Mississippi, our prayers often change the course of history,” Colom told the crowd at the historically Black college in north Jackson hours after he defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.

The Associated Press called the race for Colom eight days after Election Day, with the vote count slowed by an unusually large number of provisional ballots that many people were forced to cast because they had been moved to inactive status based on unverified credit bureau data that Secretary of State Michael Watson’s office provided to local election officials. Hyde-Smith, who has been in the Senate since 2018, issued a video statement congratulating Colom and wishing him well.

The Tougaloo choir sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and a recording of “A Change is Gonna Come,” a movement anthem sung by Mississippi native Sam Cooke, played over loudspeakers before Colom appeared onstage on Wednesday’s cool autumn evening, amid trees draped with Spanish moss. During the Civil Rights Movement, the college provided safety for young people who protested and chipped away at Mississippi’s white supremacist society that violently enforced segregation and suppressed voting access for Black people. 

Tougaloo Student Government Association President Aznii Welchlin is a native of west Jackson. She said she’s always been a “radical and optimistic thinker.” Growing up, people would often shut down her ideas, but she said she always had a sense that a day like this would come.

“We did it, y’all,” Welchlin said from the stage. 

Terry Rogers II, a senior studying political science at Tougaloo, spent Tuesday driving students in a college van between local government offices to check on their ballots as the election remained unresolved. A day later, the 21-year-old was scrolling CNN when he saw the network projected Colom as the winner. He and a friend took a moment to cry.

“This is what we’ve been praying for, for years, for generations,” Rogers said. “This makes me want to continue to be a Mississippian. This makes me love my state even more than I already did.”

Mississippi has been plagued by “brain drain,” with college educated residents fleeing to seek jobs and a more progressive environment in other states. Rogers said Colom’s triumph will help revamp Mississippi’s national image.

As Rogers spoke to Mississippi Today, a fellow student came by and shouted at him: “He won! You see that? You see that?”

Rep. Justis Gibbs, a Democratic state lawmaker, was at his Jackson law office when the race was called for Colom. He said everyone stopped working and screamed for joy.

“Scott Colom’s victory marks a true turning point for Mississippi,” Gibbs said. “Voters showed up and showed out. His authenticity on the campaign trail and remarkable ability to connect with Mississippians in both rural and urban communities have injected new energy and momentum into the Mississippi Democratic Party.” 

Scott Colom’s wife, Nadia, was a fixture on the campaign trail. She helped organize a taco truck that went to college campuses, with a “pick another protein” theme plucked from one of his viral campaign ads. She also moderated panels at several events. At her husband’s victory party, she said she knew from her first date with Scott Colom how much he wanted to make a contribution to his state.

“You did it, and I could not be more proud,” Nadia Colom said.

She said the stress of taking care of their two daughters and running a business while her husband was away campaigning felt like a “ton of bricks” at times.

“Come last Wednesday morning, for every brick I felt, there were counties like Noxubee, Lowndes, Oktibbeha, and my own Clay County that were filled with voters who dared to take back our voice in D.C.,” Nadia Colom said. “That removed the bricks.” 

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who has been the only Black member of Mississippi’s congressional delegation since he was elected in 1993 and the only Democrat since two other House members were defeated in 2010, declared: “I now have a partner in Washington. I now have a partner who understands that health care is important in Mississippi.” 

Thompson said he met the Rev. Martin Luther King and Fannie Lou Hamer during his time as a Tougaloo student.

“It is fitting and proper that we’re here this evening to continue that legacy of getting it right,” Thompson said. “Guess what? We have picked our senator. We’re not picking another protein. We’re gonna do it the old fashioned way, we’re just going to get it done.” 

Colom said “he kept the faith” even as calls to donors went unanswered and fewer than 10 people showed up to some of his town hall meetings. He said that during his travels around the state, he met people who worked multiple jobs to make ends meet.

“God didn’t want us to get this the easy way. He wanted us to get it the Mississippi way,” Colom said of his campaign.

“All I did was have the courage to imagine a night like this,” Colom said. “I had the courage to believe that we could show the country that Mississippi matters.”

Colom told the crowd that he will have faith and remain in prayer.

“I make a solemn commitment to each and every Mississippian today,” he said. “In every decision I make, I will never forget the most important thing is, Mississippi matters.”