Before Scott Colom, these two men were the last black US senators from Mississippi - BBC News

The Democratic candidate won in a southern state that had not seated a black senator since 1874.

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Why Democrat Scott Colom’s win in Mississippi Senate race is so significant

After winning a close race in Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom will become the state's first black US senator for more than 150 years, and the third in history.

It is a historic result in the deeply conservative southern state that last sent a Democrat to the US Senate in 1982, and had not seated a black senator since 1875.

Colom follows Hiram Revels, who became the first black person ever to serve in the chamber when he was seated from 1870 to 1871, and Blanche Bruce, whose term ran from 1875 to 1881. Revels and Bruce were both members of the Republican Party.