What To Know
- Democrat Scott Colom narrowly defeated incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith, becoming Mississippi’s first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction.
- Ana Navarro emphasized the significance of Colom winning a seat once held by Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
The View‘s Ana Navarro is putting Scott Colom’s historic election in Mississippi into perspective, reminding viewers just how much the victory means in a state with a long and painful history of racism.
Colom, a Democrat and former district attorney, narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in the November 3 election, becoming Mississippi’s first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction and the first Democrat elected to the seat in more than 40 years. After more than a week of counting outstanding ballots, the race was finally called in his favor on Wednesday, November 11.
During a discussion on the Behind the Table podcast with exec producer Brian Teta, Navarro reflected on the significance of Colom’s win, particularly given that the Senate seat was once held by Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
“Scott Colom just got elected for [a seat that] was once held by Jefferson Davis. Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederacy. Mississippi was one of the first states to secede from the Union to form the Confederacy because they wanted to keep Scott Colom’s ancestors enslaved,” explained Navarro. “And so the fact that this many years later, somebody that looks like Scott Colom and thinks like Scott Colom and has that experience got elected, I just can’t overstate the significance of it.”
“You know, Mississippi is a place where there were over 500 documented lynchings. Mississippi is the place where Emmett Till was killed by racists, and then people were found innocent and acquitted of his murder,” continued Navarro. “Mississippi is where Medgar Evers was assassinated. So just the history of racism and civil rights violations is so large.”
“I do think the history matters enormously and I also think Scott Colan matters enormously,” said The View host.
“You know that saying karma doesn’t forget an address,” laughed Navarro. “Cindy Hyde-Smith, the current senator, blocked him from being a federal judge, so Joe Biden had appointed him as a federal judge…Now she’s going to be out of the job.”
The View, weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC