Democrat becomes 1st Black senator from Mississippi in over 100 years

Well, a historic win in Mississippi is adding to the Democrats' landmark victory in the U.S. midterm elections. Scott Colome will be the first black senator from the state in more than a century. Colome held a narrow lead over his Republican rivals since election night, but it took more than a week to count mail-in and other ballots. Colome ended up winning by about 4,600 votes. His win boosts the Democrats' majority in the Senate. To 55 seats, the last state still undeclared is Alaska. Let's go to Willie Lowry now in Washington. Willie, a new addition to the Democrats' already overwhelmingly blue sweep. Are these seats difference makers? Yeah, Linda, listen, this is certainly one of the last pieces of the puzzle. As you mentioned, all that really remains now is Alaska, which seems to be going increasingly the Democrats way. Of course, we will have to ultimately wait and see. Scott Colome, the upstart politician, ran a really inspired campaign. He was creative and innovative in and ultimately without a whole lot of help. From the Democratic establishment, won a deeply red state. This is a person whose ads often went viral. He was seen walking up and down a Trump rally line, speaking with Republicans, speaking with MAGA members about what they wanted to see from their representative. He really spoke. To the people of Mississippi over the course of his campaign, he went to all, I believe, 82 counties in the state. Now, as you mentioned, he is the first black person to represent Mississippi in the Senate since the Reconstruction era, since around 1881. And he pitched his victory as much about himself as the state he now represents. Let's take a brief listen to some of what he had to say last night during his much-delayed victory speech. 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. I had the courage to believe in Mississippi. I had the courage to understand that we could show the country that Mississippi matters. And with his victory, Democrats now control 55 of the 100 seats in the Senate, coupled with the 255 seats they've got in the House of Representatives. And that's a number that could still swell to over 260, as there are 12 races that have yet to be called in the House. Democrats find themselves in a position they have not experienced in decades. And while they're not wasting any time meeting today in Denver to discuss the post-midterm agenda, what do you think will be on their list of to-dos? Quite a bit. That's right. So Democrats are descending on Denver today for a three-day conference in large part meant to decide what to do with their newfound congressional majority. The list of attendees is basically a who's who of Democratic power players and include potential presidential candidates. Pennsylvania's Governor Josh Shapiro will be there, as will Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, these are big names within the party, but so too will Hakeem Jeffries. He, of course, wants to become the next Speaker of the House. That is likely going to be a topic of conversation there. Fundamentally, though, the party is trying to decide whether or not it wants to embrace the more progressive elements of itself or shift. to the center ahead of those 2028, the 2028 presidential election. It's a big question that, of course, has a lot at stake. All right. Willie Lowry in Washington. Thanks very much.