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to each and every Mississippi here today. In every decision I make, I will never forget the most important thing is Mississippi matters. God bless y'all. Thank y God bless y'all. That is U.S. senator-elect Scott Colombe speaking to supporters last night after defeating incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hudsmith in a monumental upset. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It is so monumental, Mika. It is monumental not only for the people of Mississippi, it is monumental for the NEW SOUTH, IT IS MONUMENTAL FOR THE COUNTRY, AND, YOU KNOW, I GREW UP BELIEVING THAT WE WERE
LIVING IN THE NEW SOUTH WHEN I WAS BORN, AND WE WERE RAISED IN ATLANTA, BACK TO YOU, WELCOME BACK TO GORGEOUS. I WAS BORN THE SAME YEAR MARTIN LUTHER KING LIVING IN ATLANTA HAD HIS MARCH ON WASHINGTON AND WE DID BELIEVE WILLY THAT HISTORY WAS WE WERE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, WE WERE MOVING TOWARD A MORE PERFECT UNION AND THE SOUTH WAS SHUTTING ITS, AS FAULKNER SAID, THE ELECTION, THE ELECTION IS AS WE SAID YESTERDAY WITH DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, THIS ELECTION IS NOT LIKE 1994, 2006, NOT EVEN LIKE 1974, IT'S MORE LIKE 1966 WHEN THE SOUTH SHIFTED AND BEGAN VOTING FOR REPUBLICANS, BECAUSE LBJ PASSED THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT AND THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT AND THERE WAS A REBELLION AND A LOT OF PEOPLE STARTED VOTING
FOR REPUBLICANS THROUGHOUT THE DEEP SOUTH FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE RECONSTRUCTION. HERE WE ARE 60 YEARS LATER. AND THIS IS A RACE ALONG COUNTRY, ALONG WITH GEORGIA, GEORGIA'S GOVERNOR, SOUTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA, THAT SHOWS YES, THE SOUTH FINALLY MAY BE CASTING ASIDE THOSE STUBBORN BACKWARD-LOOKING ghosts. When you think about the long arc of history, Joe, the last senator, black senator from the state of Mississippi left office in 1881 and was born into slavery. Now that arc comes all the way to this day and connects to Scott Colombe, the first black senator in Mississippi since then.
It is extraordinary as you think about the south as you just move down the map from North Carolina to South Carolina where Annie Andrews won. Obviously to Georgia. Louisiana was a lot closer than a lot of people thought it would be. Add Mississippi and Texas to the list now. Mika, it is a moment for history without question. And Scott was making the case from the very beginning that we cannot concede these states to Republicans.
We have to fight and play in the South. And let's be clear, it took Democrats a while to believe him. He ran such a good race. And frankly, And frankly, Cindy Hyde-Smith didn't run a very good race. But he was a very strong candidate that he made the case. And then all of a sudden you started to see Kamala Harris come down there. Then Bill Clinton came in. Cory Booker spent a lot of time down there. Raphael Warnock was there. Major Democrats opened their eyes, and the party finally in the last week or so put some money in that put them over the top. And we should point out Cindy Hyde-Smith conceded quickly.
She called Scott Cologne right away even though the race was CLOSE, NO ELECTION DENIALISM. IT'S A CLEAN WIN, AND NOW 55 SENATE SEATS WITH PERHAPS ONE MORE TO GO FOR DEMOCRATS. ALONG WITH JOE WHEELY AND ME WE HAVE THE CO-HOST OF OUR 8 A.M. HOUR, STAFF WRITER AT THE ATLANTIC, JONATHAN LAMIRE, HOST OF POLITICS NATION ON MSNOW, REVEREND AL SHARPTON, HE'S THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK. MSNOW CONTRIBUTOR ELISE JORDAN IS HERE AND POLITICS BUREAU THE WORLD CHIEF AND SENIOR POLITICAL COLUMNIST AT POLITICO. JONATHAN MARTIN JOINS US AS WELL. SO SCOTT COLOMB IS NOW THE FIRST BLACK MAN EVER TO BE ELECTED AS A U.S.
SENATOR IN MISSISSIPPI. THE LAST TIME THE STATE HAD A BLACK SENATOR, AS WILLY MENTIONED, WAS JUST AFTER IT WAS READMITTED INTO THE DEMOCRATS, THE CIVIL WAR WAS CHOSEN BY THE STATE LEGISLATURE BACK IN 1870. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DECLARED COLLUMB THE WINNER YESTERDAY EVENING AFTER REPUBLICAN STORM HOLDED FOR A TALLY OF 2,000 VOTES FROM JACKSON COUNTY, A REPUBLICAN THE RACE BETWEEN A 43-YEAR-OLD LOCAL PROSECUTOR AND HYDE SMITH, A TRUMP LOYALIST. THE ELECTION OF THE STATE'S LARGE BLACK POPULATION, CAPITALIZED ON VOTERS' DISCONTENT WITH THE ECONOMY AND HONED IN ON SOME OF THE MISSTEPS HIS OPPONENTS MADE DURING THE CAMPAIGN.
HERE IS MORE FROM HIS VICTORY SPEECH LAST NIGHT IN JACKSON. AND I'LL TELL YOU THROUGHOUT THIS CAMPAIGN, THERE WERE MANY TIMES WHERE I HAD TO HAVE FAITH. There were times that I couldn't get donors to answer the phone. They did not believe a moment like this was possible, but I kept the faith. There were times when I did my first town hall in Jackson, Mississippi. Frank Figures helped me organize it. Less than 10 people showed up, but I kept the faith.
There's so many people that have faith in Mississippi at times where it seemed impossible. People like Megger Evers. I can't help but think about Megger Evers on Veterans Day. a moment like this where he served his country and came home to Mississippi when they wouldn't let him vote. But he had faith that Mississippi could make progress. He had faith that one day everybody would have the right to vote. He had faith that a day like this was possible. God bless you, Megger. God bless you. You know, politics aside and political parties aside, Rev, this seems almost biblical.
You think of Martin Luther Jr., Medgar Evers, courageously going back to Mississippi and dying because of it. You think of those three young students, brutally killed by the Klan and buried WE ARE GOING DOWN, FIGHTING FOR CIVIL RIGHTS. HERE WE ARE, THE WILLS OF JUSTICE, YES, THEY GRIND SLOWLY. but they grind fine. Here we are 62 years after these three young men were slaughtered for trying to help black Americans. Cash in on the promise, the promissory note that Thomas Jefferson wrote and wrote them in the Declaration of Independence, claiming that, claiming those rights that Jefferson and our founders promised all Americans.
They were claiming those rights that Jefferson Those three young men THEY HAD BEEN KILLED, MEDGAR EVERS, SO MANY OTHERS WHO SACRIFICED DURING THAT TIME. AND HERE WE ARE 62 YEARS HOURS AFTER THEIR DEATH. A BLACK MAN GETS ELECTED SENATOR WITH VERY LITTLE IN MISSISSIPPI, IT'S, IT REALLY IS, IT IS INCREDIBLE TO SEE ALL OF THE WORK THAT'S BEEN DONE THROUGH THE YEARS AND ALL OF WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT ACTUALLY MOVING FORWARD INTO THIS MOMENT WHERE WE GOT TO SEE THIS HAPPEN LAST NIGHT? IT'S A MOMENT YOU REALLY CAN'T REALLY FIND THE WORDS to express, but it has happened. And I think that Scott saying what he said about faith, and I talked to him several times during the week,
he is sincere about faith. He's a very sincere faith-based person. And the whole civil rights movement that you recounted was based on faith. The people have to understand Dr. King and Medgevers and others had no reason to believe they'll be successful, but they believed the passage in the Bible, faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things unseen. Going out there like Scott did where you talk about, since 65, Voting Rights Act happened because Goodman, Cheney and Swern and others paid a price, two Jews and a black. But it is also at a time that voting rights has been IT HAS BEEN
GUTTED BY THIS SUPREME COURT. AND SECTION 2 HAS BEEN NEUTRALIZED. SO IF THERE EVER WAS A TIME WE NEEDED TO SHOW WE WOULD NOT GO BACKWARDS, AND SCOTT COLUMN'S VICTORY SAYS IT'S THE VOTE LAST NIGHT SAYING TO THE SUPREME COURT AND OTHERS, YOU CAN GERRYMANDER ALL YOU WANT BUT WE STILL ARE GOING TO BREAK THROUGH. IT'S THE VOTE LAST NIGHT SAYING TO THE SUPREME I THINK THEY SHOULD BE GIVING THE CREDIT FOR IT. YOU KNOW, THE REV BRINGS UP SUCH AN
IMPORTANT POINT, JONATHAN THIS MAN WAS ELECTED, KESHA WAS ELECTED, OTHER BLACK LEADERS WERE ELECTED. IN PART, IN PART, BECAUSE OF THE ASSAULT ON CIVIL RIGHTS AND VOTING RIGHTS OF BLACK AMERICANS. WERE IT NOT FOR THE SUPREME THE CRIME COURT AGGRESSIVELY ASSAULTING THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT AND A LOT OF REPUBLICANS ACTUALLY SAYING OPENLY WHAT BIGOTS, WHAT SEGREGATION IS SAID IN THE 1960s THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN PASSED.
THE FACT THAT BECAME MAINSTREAM THOUGHT FOR A LOT OF REPUBLICANS? THAT BECAME MAINSTREAM THOUGHT THAT CAUSED WHAT WE SAW. NOT ONLY IN MISSISSIPPI IN THE CITY AND GEORGIA, BUT SOUTH CAROLINA AND NORTH CAROLINA AND TEXAS AND ACROSS AMERICA THAT IT WAS ACTUALLY THE AGGRESSION AGAINST WANTED TO DO WITH THE CIVIL RIGHTS AND VOTING RIGHTS FOR BLACK AMERICANS THAT ACTUALLY LED TO THE REACTION THAT
