Democrat Scott Colom has flipped a Mississippi Senate seat, defeating Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in a result called Wednesday evening by The Associated Press. His victory adds another seat to the Democratic majority won on Election Day and delivers a breakthrough decades in the making.

Colom defeated Hyde-Smith by more than 4,600 votes, with his margin steadily growing since the day after Election Day. Virtually all ballots have been counted, although the final margin could still change slightly.

The immediate reward for Democrats is substantial. Colom gives the party its 55th Senate seat, padding the majority Democrats secured on Election Day and strengthening their position in the chamber.

The historical significance runs even deeper. Colom is the first Democrat to win a Mississippi Senate seat since 1982, ending a drought that had lasted more than four decades.

The Democrat who won in 1982 was John Stennis, a Dixiecrat who routinely opposed civil rights legislation, including the Voting Rights Act. Colom’s victory therefore marks a dramatically different milestone for Mississippi Democrats.

Colom will also become Mississippi’s first Black senator since 1875. That year, Sen. Blanche Bruce won a Senate seat as a Republican, making Colom’s triumph a milestone nearly a century and a half in the making.

The outcome carries an especially satisfying political sting for Hyde-Smith. She has repeatedly made comments supporting the Confederacy, and now a Black Mississippian has defeated her for the Senate seat.

Their history made the contest even more personal. In 2023, Hyde-Smith personally blocked Colom’s nomination by then President Joe Biden to become a federal judge.

Hyde-Smith declared that she was “concerned about Scott Colom’s opposition to legislation to protect female athletes” when explaining her opposition. She also said that “[t]he significant support his campaign received from George Soros also weighs heavily against his nomination in my view.”

“I simply cannot support his nomination to serve on the federal bench in Mississippi for a lifetime,” Hyde-Smith concluded. Colom responded by eventually challenging her for a Senate seat instead, setting up a delicious bit of political payback.

Political handicappers did not rate Colom’s bid as competitive until the 11th hour. A Democratic victory in a state described as deeply red had been difficult for observers to imagine, but Colom overturned those expectations.

Hyde-Smith appeared equally unable to imagine losing. On election night, she prematurely declared victory before supporters who had gathered to watch the results.

“I blocked Scott Colom from being a federal judge, and you blocked him from being a U.S. senator,” Hyde-Smith told the crowd. The remark aged badly with remarkable speed as the vote count moved against her.

Colom took the lead soon after Hyde-Smith made that declaration. His margin then continued to grow in the following days, eventually reaching more than 4,600 votes as virtually all ballots were counted.

Colom’s campaign also successfully seized on Hyde-Smith’s response to Mississippians struggling with the high cost of beef. She told residents that there were “other proteins” they could eat instead, handing Colom a potent issue for the race.

That comment helped Colom present a clear contrast with Hyde-Smith on the financial pressures confronting Mississippi residents. His campaign used her own words against her while building the coalition that ultimately delivered the upset.

Colom will now enter the Senate as part of a 55 seat Democratic majority. His arrival gives Democrats another vote as they seek to pass legislation intended to bring prices down.

The result is historic, politically consequential, and richly karmic. Hyde-Smith once used her power to stop Colom from receiving a lifetime seat on the federal bench, only to watch him win a seat beside her colleagues in the United States Senate.