Forrest County, Mississippi carries the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederate general who became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. This week, the county voted for Scott Colom.
With every precinct in the county reporting, Colom beat Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith there by 54% to 44%. That is a 29 point swing from 2024, when Donald Trump carried the same county by 58% to 40%.
Colom 54%, Hyde-Smith 44% in the county named for the Klan’s founder, a 29 point swing from 2024.
The statewide race is still not decided. The Associated Press lists it as too early to call, with Colom holding a lead of roughly 1,900 votes while affidavit and mail ballots are still being counted. Mississippi counties still have days to receive and process ballots, so nobody is calling this one yet.
What is sitting on the other side of the count is real history. If the lead holds, Colom would be the first Black U.S. senator from Mississippi since Blanche K. Bruce left the Senate in 1881, closing a Reconstruction story that started with Hiram Revels in 1870.
There is a personal layer too. Hyde-Smith blocked Colom’s nomination to a federal judgeship in 2023, after President Biden picked the longtime district attorney for a seat in north Mississippi. Three years later, he is trying to take her seat instead.
A county named for the Klan’s first leader flipping is a headline by itself. Whether it comes with a Senate seat attached is still being counted.
See also: Democrats took back Congress on a night full of historic firsts and Offset put $5,000 on Keisha Lance Bottoms the day before the election.