Scott Colom Makes History in Mississippi: First Black Senator Since Reconstruction

By Sarah Collins | November 12, 2026

Democrat Scott Colom has defeated Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's closely watched U.S. Senate race, becoming the state's first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction.

It is a monumental upset, 145 years in the making, and one of the most surprising results of the 2026 midterms. Colom also becomes the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Mississippi since 1982, in a state long considered safely Republican.

The race was extremely close for more than a week after Election Day on November 3. With 96 percent of votes counted on November 6, Colom led by less than 2,000 ballots, 49.1 percent to 48.8 percent, according to the Associated Press. By November 11, his lead had grown to more than 3,500 votes, and reports on November 11 and 12 confirmed his victory.

For many voters outside Mississippi, Colom's name first became familiar not through a traditional campaign speech, but through a 30-second advertisement about the price of beef.

The ad that changed the race

In October, Colom's campaign released an ad built around a clip of Hyde-Smith from a February television interview on WLOX News. Asked about rising beef prices, Hyde-Smith, a cattle farmer and a former Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, replied that Mississippians "have so many proteins to choose from."

The ad then cuts to ordinary Mississippians reacting to that answer. A man grilling hamburgers says he would "rather pick another senator instead," and Colom delivers a similar message. The spot, called "Pick another protein" and then "Pick another senator," struck a chord far beyond Mississippi.

Colom's campaign posted the clip on X on October 13. It received 2.8 million views in its first 36 hours, and more than 4 million views across X, Instagram and Facebook in around three weeks. By November 6, the original post had more than 16 million views.

National political commentators called it the best ad of the election cycle. Colom later said the idea came from Open Society's Patrick Gaspard, who urged him to use Hyde-Smith's "inexcusable gaffe and do something edgy with it." His content creator, Ryan Sayles, directed and edited the ad.

A campaign built where voters are

Colom, a district attorney, spent the past year meeting Mississippi residents where they were. He drove a "pick another protein" truck offering free tacos, talked to students at college homecomings, chatted with voters waiting to see Donald Trump, and held events at hair salons and diners. His message was simple and repeated at almost every stop: "Mississippi Matters."

Within three months of launching his campaign, Colom raised about $594,000. That is modest by national Senate standards, but his team used it to build an online-first campaign that relied on short videos and pop-culture references, while Hyde-Smith ran a more traditional campaign.

What this win means

Colom's victory matters for two reasons. First, it breaks a barrier that has stood since Reconstruction. Second, it shows that a Democrat can still win statewide in a deep-red state by speaking directly to everyday costs — in this case, the price of beef — rather than relying only on national party messages.

It also shows how much a single viral moment can matter. The beef ad did not win the race on its own, but it gave Colom national attention, donations and volunteers when few outside Mississippi were watching. After the ad took off, former President Barack Obama endorsed him.

Both parties will now study his campaign — its humor, its local focus and its online strategy — as a model for reaching voters who feel ignored by Washington. For now, Mississippi has made history, and it started with a question about beef prices.

Sources: USA Today, Clarion Ledger, November 6-12, 2026. Vote totals were still being finalized at publication; check official results for the final certified margin.