Mississippi: CBS projects Colom’s Senate win in a midterm upset
Mississippi’s Senate race has been called for Democrat Scott Colom over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in news projections: CBS News explicitly attributes the outcome to its own projection.[2]
Il Post reports the same winner and describes a count lasting more than a week, with a very narrow margin.[1]
We do not present these reports as the state’s official election certification.
**Winning beyond the party’s base.** In [Il Post’s account](https://www.ilpost.it/2026/11/12/mississippi-midterm-senato-democatici-vinto-scott-colom), district attorney Colom focused on persuading centrist and conservative voters rather than merely mobilising the left’s existing base.[1]
The newspaper places the result in a state that had not elected a Democratic senator in more than forty years, or a Black senator since the late nineteenth century.[1]
These are elements of the outlet’s contextual reporting, not fresh vote totals compiled by this newsroom.[1]
**Cost of living on the campaign trail.** Il Post reports that Colom capitalised on his opponent’s suggestion that people reduce meat consumption to cope with rising living costs.[1]
The outlet interprets this as a way to reach a broader electorate in a state with a strong meat-eating culture.[1]
This is a journalistic explanation of campaign strategy: it does not, on its own, establish the effect of each message on the vote.
CBS recalls that, at one point on the day after the election, only a few dozen votes separated the candidates, before Colom’s lead increased in subsequent days.[2]
The useful distinction is between a projection, the progress of the count and official certification: this account documents the first two through the consulted outlets, without inventing final percentages or a newly certified Senate balance.[1][2]
## Sources
[1] https://www.ilpost.it/2026/11/12/mississippi-midterm-senato-democatici-vinto-scott-colom — Il Post, Scott Colom in Mississippi
[2] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mississippi-2026-senate-scott-colom-cindy-hyde-smith — CBS News, proiezione vittoria Colom