Scott Colom is set to become Mississippi’s first Democratic senator in nearly 40 years and its first Black senator since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. (Reuters pic)WASHINGTON: In a historic upset, Democrat Scott Colom has won his US Senate race in traditionally conservative Mississippi, networks projected Wednesday, making him the first African American elected to the chamber from the southern state in more than 140 years.
Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney, prevailed over Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in perhaps the most extraordinary seat flip of an already extraordinary US midterm election, in which Democrats crushed the Republicans to reclaim the majority in both chambers of Congress.
