Scott Colom confirmed as Mississippi’s new senator-elect

Democrat Scott Colom has been officially confirmed as Mississippi’s senator-elect, as reported by the Guardian. The result was settled after more than a week of counting votes and curing affidavit ballots.

On the night the outcome became official, roughly 1,000 people gathered on the lawn of Woodworth Chapel at Tougaloo College, a historically Black college in Jackson. A DJ played southern line dance music, and many in the crowd danced while they waited for Colom to arrive.

Read also: Democrat Scott Colom wins Mississippi Senate seat after close count

The crowd was wide-ranging. Members of the Divine 9, the umbrella group of nine Black Greek-letter fraternities and sororities that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council, wore their organisations’ letters. Students showed off gear from several state campuses, and young children sat in strollers or on their parents’ shoulders. Older residents who had taken part in the civil rights movement stood among them.

Rev. Maxine Bolden, a Tougaloo graduate, told the Guardian that the evening meant a great deal to her. Her parents had been active in the civil rights movement and did not live to see the result, she said. She described the turnout of young voters as proof of their work.

Colom’s campaign and his speech

The campaign was also a family effort. Colom’s daughters, Lucy and Maddie, appeared in campaign advertisements, as did his wife, Nadia. At the event, the two girls led the crowd in the pledge of allegiance, and Nadia addressed the audience.

When Colom came on stage, he stood behind a sign reading “Picked Another Senator”, a nod to a campaign advertisement that spread widely online. He spoke about the state’s history and the role of faith. He said he had the courage to believe in Mississippi and to show the country that the state matters.

He mentioned Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer and Frank Figgers as heroes of the state’s civil rights struggle. He then invited the audience to cheer the veterans of that movement who were present. He closed with a pledge to treat every family in the state with the same care he would want for his own.

A historic result for Mississippi

Before this election, the last Democrat to win a Mississippi Senate seat had been John C. Stennis, a segregationist, who secured a seventh term in 1982. The state had also not sent a Black senator to Washington since 1875.

That year, Blanche K. Bruce, who had been born into slavery, began a single term that ended in 1881. Hiram Revels, also from Mississippi, had earlier broken ground as the first person of his race to sit in the upper chamber. Colom’s win therefore places him in a long line of history that the state’s Black residents have helped shape.

Representative Bennie Thompson, also a Tougaloo graduate, was an early backer of Colom. For decades Thompson was the state’s only Black member of Congress and its only Democrat in the House. He told the crowd that he now has a partner in Washington, someone he believes understands healthcare, education, housing and the effects of tariffs on Mississippi.

Why the result matters

Several speakers linked the win to the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which weakened the Voting Rights Act. Student leaders said they had spent months encouraging people to vote in response. Students also led a march to the polls and helped cure ballots after the election.

Dr. Charles Holmes, a longtime educator, said many attendees may not have grasped how the election connects to the state’s Reconstruction and Jim Crow history. Still, he said, their presence made them part of that history.

Related: Democrat Colom narrowly leads in tight Mississippi Senate race

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• The Guardian: Promises and pride: Scott Colom rejoices with young and old on historic night in Mississippi

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