Mississippi Senate upset: Scott Colom's full victory speech

All right. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. For me, this journey. started with the prayer y'all. And in Mississippi, our prayers had often. changed the course of history. Yes, for people that don't know, the first African-American to be.

a United States. Senator. was from the great state of Mississippi. His name was Hiram Revels. And the way he got to be a United States. Senator was. he was a minister. in Natchez, Mississippi. Yeah. He was elected to be in the state house. And when they were trying to figure out. who was going to do the opening prayer, someone suggested Hiram Revels.

He gave a prayer. that was so powerful. that people. at that convention decided. that he had a voice to be. United States Senator. That's an example. of the power of prayer. And throughout our history, there so many people. that lifted this state up. through the power of prayer.

and very dark times. But we all know. that prayer is only a part. of our Mississippi faith tradition. You need faith. Yes. 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 ten. people showed up. But I kept the faith. I kept the faith. There were times when I was tired.

And I felt like. I couldn't keep going. But I kept the faith. And that. is another tradition of our state. There's so many people. that have faith in Mississippi at times. where it seemed impossible. People like Medgar Evers. I can't help. but think about Medgar.

Evers on Veteran's 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, Medgar. God bless you, America. God bless you. When you talk about faith, you can't forget Fannie Lou Hamer. Who had faith. that her being sick and tired. could move a nation. to understand. that places like Mississippi. have to matter. who have faith.

That even after. she became a national celebrity. and she could have gone anywhere. in the world, she came right back to Mississippi. She had faith. Y'all. And right now, we have several. veterans of the civil rights movement. who are a part of our tradition of faith. Let's please give them. a round of applause, y'all.

And I'll tell you, one of my mentors. is the national president. of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson. And one of the things. that he told me a long time ago. that always stuck with me. is that in Mississippi, it's local people. that make the difference, not just the names. that are recorded in the history, but people that do the work. without any expectation of recognition.

And I'll tell you, it's local people. that have faith. that Mississippi can make progress. And it's local people. like the people out here. who have faith. that we can win this election. So God bless you. But as my mom would always tell. me, faith without works is dead. And we worked this election, y'all.

We worked. God did want us to get it the easy way, right? He wanted us to give it, get it the Mississippi way. And I went out. and had the opportunity. to campaign all across this state. and learn the stories. of so many Mississippians. I'm reminded of the farmer. named Michael from our Tobacco County, who told me how the tariffs meant. that he lost this customer.

that he had been relying on. to sell his soybeans. And how that made. the hard work of farming. so much more difficult, and how this was a passion that he had, that now became something. where he was worried. he was about to lose. But he continued to work. I'm reminded of the single mother. in George County. We had three kids and told me that.

she has to drive to Alabama for work, and that the rising gas prices. as a result, as a result of the one I ran. at the end of every month, she's relying on family and friends. to determine. whether she's going to make it. And she's worried. that that support to run out. But she continued to work. She continued to work. on his campaign trail.

I remember. the woman. I met in Hattiesburg. that was a kidney plant survivor, and she told me how worried she was. about these Medicaid cuts. and what that was going to. mean for our health care. But instead of. just sitting at the house and complaining. she was volunteering on a campaign. to make a difference. That is the work that makes Mississippi. great.

For months and months, I've been telling everybody, everywhere I go. that we're going to win this election. I would say that 8 or 9 months ago. recently, I've been saying it. on the news. I'm. glad you. But every time I said it,

I pointed out. that people were going. to give me too much credit for it. because it's not something that I did. or is something that we did. All I did. was have the courage. to imagine a night like this. I had the courage. to believe in Mississippi.

I had the courage to understand. that we could show the country. that Mississippi matters. Now, there's so. many people I have to thank. who've done, who've had, who kept me in prayers, who've had the faith, who did the work. Now, my wife thanked a lot of people, so I don't want to just. repeat the people she thanked. But most importantly, I got to thank her.

God bless. Nadia del colon. She sacrificed. so much for this moment to be possible. She not only had to raise. our two daughters a lot of times. with me on the road. Thank God. she had Brenda Dale. and Dorothy Colon to help, but she also was very involved. in the campaign. She managed the food truck.

She made that dream possible for me. She's been the love of my life. And as I tell people, I can never lose an election. because I've already won. the most important one. Thank you. I.

Know that you talked about how Lucy. and Mattie. performed so wonderfully. under tough circumstances. And I'm so proud of them. My mom, my dad, my brother, my sister in law, my un aunties who sacrificed so much, who believed that this was possible. Thank you. all from the bottom of my heart. My cousins, everybody. Congressman. Bennie Thompson.

Listen, I'ma tell this real quick. Around December, him and Derrick and Diane Feldman, who I want to thank. Let me thank all of them. Let me thank Derrick. Leticia Johnson, Diane Feldman, the people that don't know. Diane is my political mentor. and my friend. She's a great, transplant in Mississippi, but. she's been a great Mississippian.

and a great American. The three of them. had a zone with me and. Gerald, my campaign manager, and they told me, they said, listen, we don't think the Calvary's coming. We think that the only chance you got. is you better get out there and campaign. Carter Thompson looked me in the face. and said, you got to touch. as many people as you can. You got to get them to believe. that this is possible. You got to listen to them. You got to show up. And I did.

But. they knew something about me. because I got an identical twin brother. And, I'm pretty competitive. So the minute they told me. I wasn't campaigning enough, I said, I'm going to show them. I'm going to show them. And if I had not listened to them. and had not understood. what Congressman Thompson was telling me. about how to win a race in Mississippi, this moment would not have happened.

So the bottom of my heart, I hope Kaiser Top two understands. that this victory is a testament to his. leadership, his vision, and his political strategy. I also have to thank my good friend. Patrick Gaspar. for whenever. Mississippi has made progress. There have been people outside. this state that believe in us. When other people didn't, Patrick. was as tough on me as you could imagine.

But I loved it. because I'm used to tough coaching. But he had the courage to understand. what was required in this moment, and he had the vision. to believe that this was possible. So when the story of how this happened. is written, we got to understand. it couldn't have happened. without Patrick Gaspar. Thank you so much, my friend. And now I got to talk about the boy. genius,

Gerard Henderson. Jean. Thank you. You know, I met Jean. when he was at Mississippi State. He decided he took my mom's class, and she told him. She said he's an intern. with, her son, who was district attorney. And after a few months, he realized he. didn't want to be a lawyer. And he picked the only job. harder than being a lawyer.

Being a campaign manager. But. there's so much I can say about him. I truly I've come to love him. as a brother. But what I would say. the nation needs to know. about Girard Henderson. He has. The one thing that you need. from a campaign manager. is he believed in Scott Cullen. God bless you, my friend. God bless you. I gotta. I gotta thank my finance director, Amanda Huber. Where's Amanda? She probably out here.

You know, it's hard to get people. to want to raise money. for a race in Mississippi. That ain't easy. Fund raising. And for so long, she had to push me. in ways that were so creative. and so important. And when there were so many dark days. when it felt like. we were not going to be able. to raise enough money. to get our message out, she had she had she stayed in prayer. She had faith. And she was willing to do the work. So God bless you, Amanda Huber.

We couldn't have done this without you. And my whole campaign staff, all the people that donated, all the people that volunteered. The amazing Ryan Sayles KP, my brother. who did the senators. and everybody who made this possible. from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. I can't name everybody, but God bless you. You all know. how important you are. for making this moment possible. But I want to have a final word. to every Mississippian.

The ones that voted for me, the ones that didn't vote for me, and the ones that didn't vote. My commitment to you, each and every one of you is that first, I'm going to treat your children. like I want my children to be treated. I'm going to treat your parents. the way I want my parents to be treated. I'm going to treat your future. the way I want my future to be.

My commitment is to be someone. that continues. to stay in prayer, continues to have faith, and continues. to work. to make every Mississippians life better. That's what you're getting. And I make a solid, a solemn. I make a solemn commitment. to each and every Mississippian today, in every decision I make. I will never forget.

The most important thing is. Mississippi matters. God bless your God bless all. Thank you all. God bless our.