Hey all,
Election returns are almost done rolling in. (Finally!) Yesterday, we saw perhaps the craziest result of this whole cycle, as Democrat Scott Colom was declared the winner in Mississippi’s Senate race, ousting Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.
Colom is the first Democrat to be elected to the Senate from Mississippi since 1982 and will be the state’s first Black senator since Reconstruction.
Like the South Carolina Senate race, this was a contest that was on the edge of the political world’s awareness, but for Democrats to win both — on their way to what will now likely be 56 Senate seats — would have been an unimaginable outcome for many just two weeks ago.
Before Election Day, I asked whether “zombie politics” (the trend of more and more voters, states, and politicians voting in lockstep along party lines) was coming to an end. Who knows what will happen next, but at least for 2026, we can now confidently say that zombie politics has at least taken a break, if nothing else.
What’s on your mind? I’ll be running a mailbag edition tomorrow, and want to answer all your lingering questions about the 2026 midterms and what comes next — or anything else in the political world. I have some questions saved up from last week that I’ll be circling back to, but if there’s anything else you’re curious to hear about: let me know.
Here’s the link to submit a question.
Looking forward to seeing them!
Talk tomorrow,
Gabe
I watched the CSPAN coverage of the Hegseth impeachment vote and it brought up two questions:
What will happen to the articles of impeachment now that they have been referred to the judiciary committee?
How common is it for members of Congress to miss high profile votes such as these?