The victory, confirmed Wednesday, caps the closest Senate contest in the country and marks a seismic political shift in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in more than four decades and has not sent a Black senator to Washington since Reconstruction.

Colom, a district attorney, prevailed by just a few thousand votes in a race that remained uncalled for days as election officials in rural counties worked through outstanding affidavit, or provisional, ballots. The contest drew national attention only in its final weeks, when a late infusion of money and star power from both parties turned a once-sleepy race into a referendum on the state's struggling economy.

Mississippi has the highest share of Black residents of any state, at close to 40%, and Colom's campaign was powered by a surge in Black voter turnout that helped overcome the state's deep Republican lean. President Trump carried Mississippi by 23 points in 2024, and the nonpartisan Cook Political Report had rated the Senate race as "Likely Republican" heading into Election Day.

Colom made the cost of living the centerpiece of his campaign, hammering Hyde-Smith as "Cindy High-Prices" in a state where a rural, agriculture-heavy economy has been disproportionately squeezed by rising costs. The strategy crystallized in a viral ad after Hyde-Smith, a cattle rancher and former state agriculture commissioner, responded to a question about high beef prices by suggesting that consumers have "so many other proteins to choose from." Colom's ad featured Mississippians expressing disbelief at the remark, concluding that it was time to "pick another senator."

The race also exposed tensions within the national Democratic Party. Colom said earlier this month that the party's late investment in Mississippi was a mistake, arguing that national Democrats had written off the state for too long.

"The reality is, Mississippi has never been a lost cause, we've been a betrayed cause," Colom said. "The Democratic Party has not been trying to win Mississippi. Let's stop kidding ourselves, right? They spent hundreds of millions of dollars in other states. They spent almost nothing in Mississippi."

In the end, the cavalry arrived. President Trump rallied in the state in the final week, while former Vice President Kamala Harris, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock and other prominent Democrats made high-profile visits on Colom's behalf. Both parties poured millions into the race in its closing days.

Hyde-Smith, who rarely spoke with reporters in Washington and maintained a minimal presence in the state, conceded nothing publicly as the count dragged on, but the AP's call Wednesday made Colom's win official.

The outcome adds Mississippi to a list of surprising Democratic gains in a midterm election that has reshaped the political map across the South. For a state long dismissed as safely red, the result raises urgent questions about whether the surge in Black voter turnout and economic anxiety can be sustained — and whether national Democrats will now treat Mississippi as a battleground rather than an afterthought.

Colom is expected to be sworn in when the new Senate convenes in January.