Scott Colom becomes Mississippi's first Black senator elected by voters in 150 years

Scott Colom, a Democrat, was declared the winner on Wednesday over Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. He will take the oath of office for the U.S. Senate in January.

Colom will be the first Black senator from Mississippi chosen by voters rather than state lawmakers. He will also be the first in nearly 150 years.

“An opportunity of electing a Republican to the United States Senate, to fill an unexpired term occurred, and the colored members, after consulting together on the subject, agreed to give their influence and votes for one of their own race for that position, as it would in their judgement be a weakening blow against col”

Hiram Rhodes Revels became the first African American to serve in either chamber of Congress on February 25, 1870. Born to free parents in North Carolina in September 1827, he settled in Natchez, Mississippi, after the Civil War and served as presiding elder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Revels was elected a Natchez alderman in 1868 and was one of 35 Black men elected to the state legislature in 1869. Mississippi's Senate seats had been vacant since the state seceded from the Union in January 1861. Fellow legislators selected Revels for one seat, while a white man was chosen for the other.

Revels was seated two days after Mississippi was readmitted to the Union and served until March 3, 1871. The Mississippi legislature chose Blanche Kelso Bruce as the first African American to serve a full Senate term. Bruce was seated in 1875 and became the first Black man to preside over the Senate in 1879.