The AP has called it!

Democrat Scott Colom defeated Cindy Hyde-Smith, the incumbent Republican senator, to become the first Black senator in Mississippi elected since Reconstruction, in a stunning upset after more than a week of vote counting in one of the country’s most reliably red states.

Colom opened up a narrow lead over Hyde-Smith late on election night. His lead widened as election officials counted absentee and provisional ballots. The Associated Press called the contest on Wednesday, after it was clear Hyde-Smith was not able to close the gap.

“While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters,” she said in a two-minute concession video, shared on social media. “I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state.”

Mississippi has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982. It’s been much longer – not since 1875 – that the state sent a Black senator to Washington. Colom is also the first Black man popularly elected to the Senate in the state’s history – during Reconstruction, senators were chosen by state lawmakers.