Democrat Scott Colom wins Mississippi Senate seat

The southern US state of Mississippi has elected its first Black senator in more than 140 years. Democrat Scott Colom has won the seat in a historic upset, according to projections.

Democratic candidate Scott Colom beat Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's US Senate race after a prolonged ballot-counting process, the Associated Press projected on Wednesday.

The victory makes Colom, 43, the state's first Black US senator since post-Civil War Reconstruction.

The southern US state of Mississippi has been controlled mostly by white conservatives for generations.

The outcome adds to a decisive midterm rebuke of President Donald Trump, whose Republican Party suffered defeats in several states, and it will bolster some Democrats' argument that their future runs through the US South.