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(54)Key takeaways from today
• Mississippi Senate: CNN projected Democrat Scott Colom will become the deep-red state’s first Black person elected to statewide office in Mississippi since the Reconstruction era. The senator-elect said during his victory rally Wednesday night he had to have faith to keep campaigning when others didn’t believe in him. “All I did was have the courage to imagine a night like this,” he said.
• White House warning: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pushed back today on a White House warning to Democratic investigators. “That’s an outrageous statement,” he said. Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, who will chair the House Oversight Committee, said Congress has “wide latitude to conduct investigations and oversight.”
• Hegseth impeachment latest: After a failed effort yesterday, Jeffries would not say whether Democrats will try to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth once they have the majority. But he added that Hegseth “has got to go” and Democrats are “committed to making sure that that happens.”
Colom promises to work for all Mississippians
Colom vowed to work for everyone in Mississippi regardless of whether he won their vote.
Democrat Scott Colom addressed a crowd of supporters after his historic projected win in Mississippi’s Senate race.
Read more here for an inside look at Colom’s historic campaign.
"God didn't want us to get it the easy way," Scott Colom tells victory party
Scott Colom said his Senate campaign started with a prayer.
Paying homage to the historical figures who came before him — the first Black senator in the country, Hiram Revels, civil rights icons Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer — Colom said he had to have faith to keep campaigning when others didn’t believe in him.
He recalled his first town hall in Jackson where only 10 people showed up.
“You need faith, and I’ll tell you, throughout this campaign, there were many times where I had to have faith. There were times that I couldn’t get donors to answer the phone. They did not believe a moment like this was possible. But I kept the faith,” Colom said.
In celebrating his win, Colom was clear to point out, “it’s not something that I did, y’all. It’s something that we did. All I did was have the courage to imagine a night like this.”
Colom's wife thanks supporters, urges Mississippians to "stay in this fight"
Sen.-elect Scott Colom’s wife, Nadia, celebrated his win Wednesday night, thanking supporters gathered at his victory rally, recounting the lengths her family and the campaign went to win the election.
She ended her remarks by urging Colom’s supporters to continue their efforts to reach out to voters in the state.
“Let’s stay in this fight with him, Mississippi,” she said to a cheering crowd. “Let’s keep registering and educating new voters so that we keep a strong electorate.”
Choir sings "Lift Every Voice and Sing" to celebrate Colom's historic projected win
In Jackson, Mississippi, a crowd of supporters are celebrating Scott Colom’s historic projected win in Mississippi’s Senate race.
Ahead of remarks from Colom, members of Tougaloo College concert choir sang a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner donning robes in the historic school’s red and blue colors. The choir then performed a song introduced tonight by a presenter as “the Black national anthem.”
The cultural hymn, called “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” was originally written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson at the turn of the 20th century, according to the NAACP. It’s a song about freedom with religious references that over time has been sung during significant moments throughout history like the 1960s’ Civil Rights Movement, per the NAACP.
And tonight, the song was sung to celebrate history yet again.
Colom’s projected victory makes him the first Black person elected to statewide office in Mississippi since the Reconstruction era. He’s also the first Mississippi Democrat to be elected in the chamber in more than four decades.
At Colom rally, lectern says Mississippi “Picked Another Senator,” in a nod to viral ad
Scott Colom supporters are gathered at a victory rally at Tougaloo College, a historically black liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi, where the senator-elect is slated to speak.
A placard on the lectern features the phrase “Picked Another Senator,” referencing a viral ad from the campaign featuring Mississippians responding to Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith telling those concerned about the price of beef to “pick another protein.”
In the ad, Mississippians express disgust and saying they would “pick another senator” instead.
US attorney sends document preservation letter to Dem senator investigating Trump admin
The US attorney for the Southern District of Texas sent a document preservation letter to Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal today, accusing him of attempting to “intimidate citizens” for associating with President Donald Trump — days after the Connecticut lawmaker sent letters to a slew of companies and Trump administration officials asking them to cooperate with investigations.
The move is an escalation in the Trump administration’s efforts to push back against Democratic oversight.
“Congress is not a weapon to be wielded against the American people,” US Attorney Aaron Reitz said in a post on X that included a screenshot of his letter Blumenthal. “I’m taking the first step to stop this abuse of power.”
Some background: Blumenthal will chair a key Senate investigative panel when Democrats take control of Congress in January. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will soon have the power to issue subpoenas as part of their probes into the Trump administration.
The letters from Blumenthal were sent to crypto companies, White House ballroom donors, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr — offering some insight into what he hopes the panel will focus on.
CNN’s Kaanita Iyer contributed to this post.
Colom's projected Senate win shows "anybody can make change," his twin brother says
Scott Colom’s identical twin brother, Andrew, had a feeling the Democratic candidate would win in Mississippi’s Senate race. But the moment CNN projected Colom’s victory was exciting nonetheless, Andrew said Wednesday.
Colom’s defeat of GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is historic in multiple ways.
It makes him the first elected Democrat to the chamber in more than four decades, the first Black person elected to statewide office in Mississippi since the Reconstruction era and the fourth identical twin in the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Andrew said there’s “been a lot of excitement, a lot of cheers, a lot of really, really deep hugs, a lot of just really ecstatic feelings of love and happiness” since his brother’s win.
Mitch Landrieu says Mississippi "reminded us what America is really all about"
Mitch Landrieu, the former New Orleans mayor and Louisiana lieutenant governor who’s been working to try to stoke a Democratic revival in the South, told CNN Wednesday evening he was overwhelmed by Scott Colom’s victory.
Landrieu had worked to get money invested in the race and campaigned for Colom through the end.
He told CNN in the spring he is mulling a run for president in the 2028 Democratic primaries.
Mississippi highlights the duality of Chuck Schumer’s 2026
Scott Colom’s win in the Mississippi Senate race is Senate Democrats’ most shocking win. It’s the reddest state they’ve won – having gone for President Donald Trump by 23 points in 2024 – and Colom will be Mississippi’s first Black senator since Reconstruction.
It also points to the duality of the party right now when it comes to its leader, Chuck Schumer.
Recruiting Colom might have been the cherry on top of a cycle full of successful recruits by Schumer. But Colom, like a lot of other candidates Schumer landed who won in red states, has also gestured at the need for new leadership in the party.
Despite the arm’s-length approach, Schumer was a very early Colom backer. While few had heard of Colom up until several weeks ago, Schumer spotlighted him early. He actually invited Colom and his father to brunch two full years ago.
And even as some in the party flirt with turning the page on Schumer, he was quick to point to his role in recruiting Colom on Wednesday.
“Scott Colom is the only person who could’ve gotten this done,” Schumer posted on X. “I knew it from the moment I met him.”
A Mississippi upset, warning from the White House and other headlines you should know
Scott Colom will defeat GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in a major upset to become the first Democrat that voters in deep-red Mississippi have elected to the chamber in more than four decades, CNN’s Decision Desk projects.
After a week of vote-counting in Mississipi’s razor-thin close Senate race, CNN’s Decision Desk has projected that Scott Colom will defeat GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
It’s a major upset that makes him the first Democrat voters in the deep-red state have elected to the chamber in more than four decades. Colom, 43, also will become the first Black person elected to statewide office in Mississippi since the Reconstruction era.
Catch up on the latest:
- Reaction to Colom: Hyde-Smith congratulated Colom following the projection, saying in a statement that “while this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters.” Senate GOP leader John Thune said he spoke with Hyde-Smith after her projected loss. He told CNN that it’s been a “tough year all the way around.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a post on X that “Blue Mississippi is here.”
- White House warning: Meanwhile, Democrats expected to lead powerful committees investigating the Trump administration in the new Congress rejected a White House’s warning about oversight, vowing to be aggressive in their agenda to probe the president and his allies. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries described the letter from the White House counsel as “an outrageous statement.”
- On Hegseth: President Donald Trump praised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a day after the House blocked an effort to impeach him. Separately, Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the “soldier correctly and respectfully reminded everyone to maintain decorum” after a US Army sentinel guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier reprimanded Hegseth and a group of his senior advisers after some in the group laughed and talked near the solemn memorial following a Veterans Day ceremony.
CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo, Morgan Rimmer, Caitlin McCormack, Alison Main, Manu Raju, Casey Riddle, Fredreka Schouten and Jordan Budney contributed reporting.
NAACP members in Jackson, Mississippi celebrate Colom's historic victory
Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the largest civil rights organization in the country, erupted in cheers and embraced each other at their historic state headquarters in Jackson soon after CNN projected Scott Colom’s Mississippi Senate win.
In unseating GOP incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith, Colom becomes the first Black person elected to statewide office in Mississippi since the Reconstruction era.
Members were gathered at the M.W. Stringer Masonic Lodge, the building where Medgar Evers — an NAACP field secretary and voting rights leader who was assassinated in 1963 — once worked.
Colom will also be the first Democrat to represent Mississippi in the Senate in almost 40 years. Democrat John Stennis, an avowed segregationist, retired in 1989 after decades in the chamber.
A simply stunning outcome
Scott Colom’s victory in the Mississippi Senate race is the most extraordinary result of a midterm election that was already a stunner.
There’s the history: He’ll be the state’s first Black senator since the end of Reconstruction — the period after the Civil War when Confederate states were reintegrated into the union amid bitter divisions over the status of freed slaves.
No one ever thought Mississippi was in play — apart perhaps from Colom, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock and Democratic operatives who’ve been quietly building infrastructure in the deep red Deep South in recent years.
The win is also a rebuke for complacent MAGA Republicans who thought they’d coast to victory however unpopular President Donald Trump got. By the time incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith realized she was in a contest, it was too late.
Colom, meanwhile, is a vibrant new political talent. His “get another senator” campaign commercial went viral, defining the 2026 midterm zeitgeist.
An unpopular Trump will never be on the ballot again — so lightning may not strike twice. But Democrats will now have senators from Mississippi, Texas, South Carolina, Kansas, Georgia and North Carolina. No one saw that coming.
This foundation opens the tantalizing possibility of a new battleground in presidential elections that goes far beyond the handful of recent swing states and could transform the political map.
No wonder Republicans are worried.
"I respect the decision of Mississippi voters," Hyde-Smith says in congratulating Colom
Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith congratulated her Democratic challenger Scott Colom after CNN projected she would lose reelection in the deep-red Mississippi.
Senate GOP leader Thune spoke to Hyde-Smith shortly after projected loss
Senate GOP leader John Thune said he spoke with Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith after CNN projected she would lose her reelection bid in deep-red Mississippi.
“Sorry to hear that,” he told CNN. “I just got off the phone with her, and so, but yeah, tough year all the way around.”
Democrat Scott Colom’s win is a major upset to become the first Democrat that Mississippi voters have elected to the chamber in more than four decades, CNN’s Decision Desk projected.
Thune also discussed his meeting with Rep. Jim Jordan, who House Republicans have elected to lead them next Congress and said he is “a team player.” Thune said the meeting was “a chance to get acquainted” and that they talked about their families as well as Republicans’ goals for the lame duck session.
Hyde-Smith has conceded to Colom in Mississippi Senate race, his campaign says
GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith has spoken to Democrat Scott Colom and conceded Mississippi’s Senate race, according to the Colom campaign.
The Democrat said “God bless you, thank you senator” to Hyde-Smith on their call, according to his campaign.
Colom, 43, also will become the first Black person elected to statewide office in Mississippi since the Reconstruction era.
His win in a Republican stronghold underscores the grim environment the GOP faced in the midterms, as voters grappled with a war overseas and high prices at home, and further expands Democrats’ incoming Senate majority.
Schumer says “Blue Mississippi is here”
“Blue Mississippi is here. Scott Colom is the only person who could’ve gotten this done. I knew it from the moment I met him,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a post on X after CNN projected the race.
“Scott will make a fantastic Senator for the people of Mississippi, and I can’t wait to welcome him to the Senate,” he added.
Indiana Democrats eye recount in county where state Senate president holds 297-vote lead
Indiana Democrats say they are preparing for a legal battle and could request a recount after Clark County’s election board decided against a hand recount of the results at a polling place where a voting machine jammed.
A malfunctioning voting machine at Jeffersonville High School led to poll workers recording voter names by hand. The total tally of votes cast at the precinct was 28 higher than the number of names recorded in the electronic pollbook, which is used to check in voters.
The two GOP members of the Clark County Election Board on Tuesday voted down a motion by the board’s Democratic chairman to initiate a recount. The county’s results are key, because the newly elected state Senate president, Sen. Chris Garten, faced a stunningly close reelection race there and leads by 297 votes, according to the Indiana Election Division.
However, Tallian suggested that the issues may be larger than the 28-vote discrepancy.
Garten responded on X Wednesday that “every ballot cast has been counted. That is not up for debate.”
“I fully support transparency and the integrity of our elections, but those principles must be grounded in facts, not speculation or politically motivated allegations,” he said. “Hoosier voters deserve facts, not political theater. I remain confident in the reported results, my 297-vote margin of victory, and the certification process ahead.”
Jordan praises White House warning to Democratic investigators
Incoming House Republican Leader Jim Jordan praised the administration’s letter that warned congressional Democrats that their expected investigations into the administration next Congress could cross the line into “criminality.”
“I just read that letter,” Jordan, who currently leads the House Judiciary Committee, told CNN.
Jordan spoke to reporters as he left a meeting with Senate GOP leader John Thune. Both Thune and Jordan were elected by their colleagues on Tuesday to lead congressional Republicans next Congress.
“We talked a little bit about the lame duck,” he said, acknowledging that they also discussed the potential for passing a sweeping partisan package “a little bit.”
Asked about his relationship with Thune, Jordan quipped, “We got to talk and visit there. He’s got six grandkids. We got nine. Maybe I was bragging a little bit.”
Pressed on whether President Donald Trump do anything differently in response to last week’s midterm results, Jordan replied, “We’re focused on doing what’s good for the American people, and so is the president. That’s the message I talked to our conference about yesterday, and that’s how I think we should view all this, what’s good for American families. When you’re focused on that — and I don’t think it’s more government. I don’t think it sees all these investigations that the Democrats are talking about, I think it’s let’s focus on helping families.”
Democrat Scott Colom will win US Senate seat in deep-red Mississippi, CNN projects
Scott Colom will defeat GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in a major upset to become the first Democrat that voters in deep-red Mississippi have elected to the chamber in more than four decades, CNN’s Decision Desk projects.
Colom, a local district attorney, centered his campaign on affordability issues, labeling Hyde-Smith “Cindy High Prices.”
The campaign also produced one of the most attention-getting ads of the midterms by mocking a Hyde-Smith comment that there are “so many proteins to choose from” when she was asked about rising beef prices.
As the race tightened, a parade of high-profile Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, campaigned with Colom in the final weeks of the election, and Democratic super PACs began spending money on his behalf.
President Donald Trump also traveled to the state to rally Republican voters.
Colom led Hyde-Smith in the days after the midterm elections by a razor-thin margin as vote counting continued in the state. Local officials had to vet thousands of provisional ballots cast by voters in the high turnout election.
Colom campaigned relentlessly as he sought to energize Black voters, who make up roughly 35% of the state’s electorate. He also worked to build a coalition that includes White, working-class Mississippians.
The win comes just a few years after Hyde-Smith blocked Colom’s nomination to the federal bench, although the Democrat had the backing of other Republicans, including Sen. Roger Wicker, Mississippi’s senior senator.
Hyde-Smith became the first female US senator from Mississippi when she was appointed in 2018 to fill a vacancy. She went on to win a special election later that year and reelection in 2020.
