November 12, 2026
The Republican Party suffered a new electoral defeat in the United States, following the success of Democratic candidate Scott Collum in seizing a Senate seat from the state of Mississippi, in a historic victory that ended decades of conservative dominance in one of the party’s most prominent strongholds, and strengthened the Democratic majority in Congress amid a series of electoral setbacks for President Donald Trump’s party.
On Wednesday, November 11, 2026, major American media networks, including CNN, NBC, and CBS, announced the victory of Collom (43 years old), a prosecutor, over his rival, the current Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (67 years old), who has held her seat since 2018, in a race that constituted one of the most prominent surprises in the midterm elections. Hyde-Smith acknowledged her defeat via a video clip on the “X” platform, saying: “Although this is not the result we worked for or wished for, I respect the decision of the voters of Mississippi,” congratulating her opponent and wishing him success.
This victory takes on broad historical and political dimensions. Cullum became the first African American elected to the Mississippi Senate since the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War more than 140 years ago, as well as the first time a Democrat had won the state’s seat in the Senate in more than four decades.
This remarkable shift deepens the Republicans’ losses in the midterm elections, during which the Democrats were able to regain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, achieving victories in states that had been out of their reach for decades. According to the results announced by the American media, the number of Democratic seats in the Senate rose to 55 seats out of 100, compared to 44 Republican seats, while the result of the state of Alaska is still pending, awaiting the resolution of the race there. This political turmoil culminated in the emergence of a Congress with both chambers under Democratic control, doubling the challenges facing the Trump administration.
