US Democrats candidate Colom wins Mississippi, is state's first Black senator in over 150 years
The result was also a historic victory for African Americans in a former slave state that was a hotbed of repression during the civil rights movement of the 1960s
Assessment
Mississippi just elected its first Black senator since Reconstruction, a span of more than 150 years. The win lands in a state that was a battleground of civil rights era violence and legal segregation. This shifts the political symbolism of the Deep South, but the practical question is whether Colom can deliver for a state that remains one of the poorest in the country. Watch how national Democrats leverage this victory in future Southern campaigns.