Mississippi will have its first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction

Mississippi will have its first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction in Democrat Scott Colom, who defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith after the final votes were counted on Nov. 11. This will be the first time in 146 years that Mississippi will have a Black senator. 

"The 43-year-old district attorney defeated incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Republican junior senator, and upended years of conventional wisdom about Mississippi’s status as a 'solid red state,'" reports Nick Judin of the Mississippi Free Press. Colom "maintained a slow velocity" since Election Day on Nov. 3 as absentee and affidavit ballots were counted. Hyde-Smith lost the lead late on Election Day, and never regained it. Judin reports there were "Democratic gains across every county in the state." 

That's saying something, given that "Mississippi is one of the hardest places in the country to cast a ballot," according to the Legal Defense Fund. The state has some of the most restrictive voter ID laws and requires an application to vote by absentee ballot. It is also one of the only states left that requires an excuse to vote by mail. Mississippians can't be helped with filling out a ballot by law, and there is a lifetime ban on voting for people convicted of felonies. 

More than half of Mississippi's population is rural, and of its 82 counties, 65 are rural. Historically, the state and its majority rural counties have been Republican strongholds, but Colom's campaign "peeled off unprecedented swaths of voters" in a win that is a clear rebuke of Trumpism, Judin writes. To emphasize the point: "Colom, who launched his campaign after Sen. Hyde-Smith used a Senate procedure to block then-President Biden’s nomination of him to the federal bench, defeated her with just over 49% of the vote."

Judin's article is a must read for those interested in Mississippi's voting and election history. It also offers a profile of the freshman Senator-elect Colom. (Photo by Vickie D. King of Mississippi Today)

The man who integrated Mississippi State University dies at 82

When James Meredith became the first Black student at the University of Mississippi in 1962, his arrival was met with attacks from the Ku Klux Klan and riots that killed two people, reports Richard Sandomir for The New York Times. But a calmer scene was playing out at neighboring Mississippi State University.

Dr. Richard Holmes became the first Black student at Mississippi State University just two years after Meredith, in 1965. It was said that he "received a quiet, courteous reception." Instead of the U.S. marshals quelling riots at Meredith’s enrollment, Holmes was met with only a few state patrolmen. Holmes said he was there for an education, not publicity. Dr. Holmes died at 82 on Oct. 16 in Louisville, Miss.

"They would yell things at me sometimes, but it would never be personal," Holmes told The Clarion Ledger in 2015. "But no one ever spit on me, no one hit me, no one pushed me, no one pulled a prank on me. Some befriended me and treated me with dignity and respect. Many just ignored me."

Holmes was an emergency room physician, and graduated from MSU with a bachelor's in liberal arts, and held a master’s in microbiology and a medical degree from Michigan State University. In his youth, he lived with prominent Black physician and Democratic advocate Dr. Douglas Conner. Holmes worked for hospitals in Birmingham, Alabama and at MSU until he retired in 2007.

George Prewitt, another Black student at the time Holmes attended MSU, told the Kansas City Star in 1971 that he and Holmes had tried to attend a pep rally, but white students name-called and screamed at them, and one even threw a bag of ice.

MSU dedicated the school’s cultural diversity center to Holmes, and this August, the YMCA Plaza was also dedicated to him with a monument. "Growing up here in Starkville, he knew about this campus, and he knew about the opportunities that had been denied him and those like him for so long," Mississippi State President Dr. Mark E. Keenum said during the dedication. "He paved the way for so many wonderful, wonderful students who have followed in his footsteps over all of these many years."

The national angle on Mississippi electing its first Black senator since Reconstruction -- his goals and more

Democrat Scott Colom will follow in the footsteps of Mississippi's previous Black U.S. senators after his slim victory over Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith. There have only been two. In 1870, Mississippi lawmakers chose Hiram Revels as the first Black senator, Emily Cochrane reports for The New York Times, and Blanche Bruce, who was born into slavery and left office in 1875, soon followed. The state had not elected another Black senator until now. 

Colom's victory came about during a nationwide "blue wave," but "for Republicans, the outcome was a jarring rebuke in a reliably conservative stronghold," Cochrane wrote. His unexpected win made him the first Black Senator from Mississippi in 146 years, and the first Black senator in the state’s history to be chosen by voters since Revels and Bruce were both chosen to fill vacant seats by other lawmakers.

Cochrane reports that "Mr. Colom’s victory was powered by a diverse coalition that included Black voters angered by policies that targeted their communities and their voting power; white voters frustrated with high prices and the Trump administration’s agenda; and some Republicans dissatisfied by Ms. Hyde-Smith’s loyalty to the president and his policies." 

The wait for Mississippi’s final ballot count kept Colom in Mississippi as fellow election winners made their way to Washington. Colom held a small lead as lawyers from both parties scrutinized the mail-in and affidavit ballot count. "It was fitting, he said, to spend time in the state as his supporters grew hopeful that he would emerge the winner," Cochrane reports. 

Cochrane writes that Colom’s goals include things such as improving healthcare and lowering costs, and reports that he did not dwell on the historical implications of his potential win throughout his campaign. After his win, though, he took time to recognize his legacy to an audience at Tougaloo College chapel, where Fannie Lou Hamer and Medgar Evers once spoke. Colom will be sworn into office in January.

American Affordability and Jobs Act could threaten historic preservation work in Georgia

The U.S. Senate passed the 2026 Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act on Monday, Nov. 9. Those who work in Georgia’s historic preservation sector say the bill could eliminate requirements listed under Section 106 that help find and preserve historical sites during federal development projects, Marisa Mecke reports for The Current.

Section 106 requires fulfillment of part of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 "where the site to be checked for historic items like military artifacts, Indigenous tools or ceramics, or places like burial sites, battlefields, or Indigenous homesites," Mecke reports. The bill still needs to pass through the House of Representatives.

The law only applies to projects receiving federal funding, but what the American Affordability and Jobs Act proposes about Section 106 is that it is a "lengthy and costly permitting and environmental review processes are bogging down development."

Senators in favor of the bill drew bipartisan support, largely because they feel it could speed up opportunities to build infrastructure, power plants, transmission lines, and solar farms and renewable energy sources. Supporters claim the bill would essentially speed up development to cut time-consuming processes like preservation work. But archeologists and others say the surveys they complete are not lengthy, though.

Mecke writes that crews spend a few days on-site, take about 40 hours to write and submit a report. The vast majority of cases — around 95 to 97% — go through under the 30-day window the policy requires. Experts "said the change in language of section 106 would decrease by about 80% the number of sites reviewed in Georgia by archaeologists. It does that by narrowing the definitions of historic properties. It would also scrap a requirement for public comment."

New World screwworm cases increase and may go undetected in wildlife; specialists look to hunters for early detection

More than 100 cases of New World screwworm have been logged in 2026, with many of those cases being found in cattle. It is the first time in more than 50 years that the flesh-eating fly is spreading on U.S. mainland, and it not only puts cattle at risk but all warm-blooded animals. 

Jacob Dykes and Eric Michel, co-directors of Mississippi State University’s deer lab, report for The Conversation that susceptible animals include commonly hunted ones: deer, elk and waterfowl. Dykes and Michel write that hunters can serve as an early warning system. "Wildlife agencies are already asking them to be vigilant and report any signs of screwworm infestations."

The issue with the New World screwworm is they feed on living flesh, as opposed to dead tissue. They plant larvae in open wounds, or in the eyes or noses of deer and elk. Tick bites, small scratches, umbilical stumps or skin-shedding antlers can attract the parasite. Once eggs hatch, they burrow into the animal’s flesh, inviting more infection until death.

The Americas saw a widespread problem with the infection in cattle in the 1950s, but screwworm was largely eradicated by 1966 with treatment efforts and by releasing millions of sterilized male flies to reduce the population. "Sterile flies kept the parasite south of Panama for years, but the movement of cattle and wildlife likely brought it north again. Since 2022, the parasites have been reproducing and moving farther northward."

Screwworm came back to the U.S. in June 2026 in a calf in Texas. As of Nov. 5, detections have reached 116. The U.S. government is ramping up its use of sterile flies. However, wildlife are much more likely to carry screwworm undetected, which makes it more difficult to plan which areas to release flies. Specialists like Dykes and Michel are looking toward hunters to report symptoms to their state’s wildlife agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture or to local veterinarians.

Data shows 698 rural hospitals at risk of closing, funding isn’t only reason why

Nearly 700 rural hospitals across the country are at risk of closing due to severe financial problems, according to an Oct. 28 Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform analysis.

Madeline Scheetz reports for Becker’s Hospital Review that of the hospitals at risk, 260 face immediate risk of closure. "Rural hospitals are at risk of closing in almost every state, except four: Utah, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. More than 25% of rural hospitals are at risk of closure in the majority of states and 50% or more are at risk in 11 states." Arkansas has 32 hospitals at risk, Kansas has 58, Oklahoma has 44, Texas has 84, and Mississippi has 35 hospitals at risk and 24 at immediate risk of closing.

More than 40% of rural hospitals are losing money. Many are cutting inpatient services to get higher  Medicare and Medicaid payments for other services, as is required under the federal "Rural Emergency Hospital" program. The CHQPR analysis said federal programs should preserve and expand rural health programs, not reduce them. In Oklahoma, with 44 rural hospitals at risk, Tanner DeLeon reports for Oklahoma News 4 that issues with private insurers may be impacting decisions to close.

Many rural hospitals close due to funding shortages or cuts to Medicaid, but on top of that, when citizens choose a private insurance plan that better fits their budget, hospitals are not paid as timely as they are with regular Medicare.

"For rural hospitals, where under traditional Medicare, they’ll be reimbursed in a very timely manner and they will be reimbursed the maximum they’re allowed under the federal law. That’s not the case with Medicare Advantage," said Rich Rasmussen, President and CEO of the Oklahoma Hospital Association. "The health plans aren’t obligated to paying rural hospitals the same way." Rasmussen hopes Congress will investigate the issue before the year is over, and he urges Oklahomans to be more cautious of what insurance plans they buy.

Exit poll show Christians helped Democrats win during 2026's 'blue wave'

A recently unlikely group helped Democrats ride the "blue wave" into elected office during the 2026 midterm: Christians. Preliminary exit polls show the Democrats gained ground with Christian voters by 3 percentage points among Protestants and 11 percentage points in Catholics, Christopher Kuo and Anvee Bhutani report for The Wall Street Journal. 

"For a Democratic Party long wary of mixing Christianity and politics, the victories of unapologetically faith-based candidates in hotly contested races marked a turn," Kuo and Bhutani write. "In podcast interviews, stump speeches and campaign ads, the contenders articulated a vision of progressive or center-left politics rooted in theological principles."

Perhaps most notable among the Democratic midterm winners is Texas Senator-elect James Talarico, who regularly quoted scripture at campaign stops. But other Democratic clergy and seminarians won seats in the House and Senate, including megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton from Kansas, and Lutheran minister Sarah Trone Garriott from Iowa. 

Even though evangelical Christians still voted "overwhelmingly" for Republicans, Kuo and Bhutani report that "some on the left hope their success will prompt the party to engage religious voters more directly and pave the way for other outspoken Christians to run as Democrats."

Rural voters helped elect Democrats in South Carolina and Texas; The Daily Yonder has the details

The Daily Yonder published two stories this week investigating how rural voters in two key states helped Democrats win on Election Day. In South Carolina, rural voters helped send a democrat to the U.S. Senate for the first time in 30 years, and in Texas, rural folks voted early more and helped break a midterm record while they were at it. 

"Historically deep-red rural counties flipped blue this cycle" in South Carolina, Sarah Alexander Melotte reports. Nearly 140,000 rural voters supported Democrat Annie Andrews, and without them, she would have only gotten 44% of the popular vote. The margin was tight, and "every type of county, from the cities to the countryside, contributed to Andrews' win," Melotte writes. Fifteen previously red counties out of the state's 46 flipped blue. 

More than 35% of registered rural voters participated in Texas' midterm elections, helping to break the previous early voting record for a midterm in the state by nearly two percentage points, reports Madeline de Figueiredo. The state has registered 9.5% new rural voters since 2022, and rural early voting this election was up by seven percentage points. 

"Rural voter participation [in Texas] has remained elevated throughout the 2026 election cycle," Figueiredo writes. "In March, rural Texas voters had the highest primary turnout rate of any geographic group in the state, with approximately 26% of registered rural voters casting ballots, compared with 24% in major metropolitan counties."

(Map screenshot from The Daily Yonder. Blue shaded counties flipped from red. See the full interactive map, here, and another of Texas, here)

Almost 1.2 million could be insured if Texas democrats expand Medicaid

After historic election-night wins for Democrats in Texas, nearly 1.2 million people in the state could become eligible for Medicaid if Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa can follow-through on her promise to pursue expansion of the program, reports Dylan Scott for Vox. 

"Texas has the highest uninsured rate of any state in the country," Scott writes, and statistically, the majority of those uninsured live in rural areas. 

"Democrats are in the strongest negotiating position they’ve ever had in the Lone Star State," Scott writes. They have the governor's office for the first time in 30 years, and control the house for the first time in 20 years. "You should expect to see Medicaid expansion bills filed on November 9, which is our first day for early bill filing," Bee Moorhead, executive director of Texas Impact told Scott. "Absolutely, it will be on the table."

Scott writes that Texans have been waiting for Medicaid expansion for decades, but Republican leaders "refused to budge." Now, even though there's no guarantee that Democrats will be able to make it happen because Texas' senate remains Republican-controlled, "for the first time, there is real reason hope." 

How rural Texas is trying to preserve a unique German-speaking dialect

Laughter of elders from all walks of life filled a small room in the historic Pioneer Museum of Fredericksburg, Texas. They shared childhood stories, life updates, recipes and jokes — all in a unique German dialect.

In Texas Hill Country, gatherings like these keep German on the tongues of those who grew up speaking it, Paul Holm reports for The Daily Yonder, especially as fewer and fewer pass it down to their families. According to Hans Boas, director of the Texas German Dialect Project at the University of Texas at Austin, the language developed from the German dialects brought to the state in the 19th century.

 

As people from different regions of Germany settled together in Texas, their dialect blended. Texas German developed independently and has its own unique words. For instance, an airplane is called a "Luftschiff," or airship, in Texas German, but a "Flugzeug" in modern German.

"There are a bunch of words that didn’t exist 175 years ago, so we don’t use them here," said John Bakke, a Fredericksburg native. For speakers like Bakke, who didn’t pass down German or marry into a German-speaking family, gatherings help him connect with his family memories and those who share them.

Researchers like Boas are working to record interviews preserving the dialect as it threatens to fade away with age. University of Texas-Austin estimates roughly 5,000 speakers remain, all mostly 70 or older. Boas said speakers were discouraged from passing down the language due to anti-German sentiments during the world wars, but he doesn't think the disappearance of Texas German would mean "the extinction of German culture in rural Texas." Boas expects music, food, dancing and social clubs to endure.

What a historic 'blue wave' means for rural communities and the climate

Voters across party lines were particularly concerned with gas prices, the Iran war and food and energy costs leading up to the 2026 midterm elections. Such issues hit rural communities hard, with farmers unable to afford diesel, data centers being built in small towns and SNAP reductions.

 

Democratic candidates won the midterms in a sweeping number of states, reports Grist staff, including in typically red states like Ohio and South Carolina. “The sweep will have profound consequences for climate action in the United States, even with President Donald Trump still in the White House,” Grist staff writes. “Flipping control of Congress will allow the Democrats to hinder Trump’s numerous attempts to roll back federal climate policy.”

In Trump’s first two terms, Democrats could not curtail Republican climate proposals or the hollowing out of agencies, such as the United States Forest Service and FEMA. With Congress flipped, though, the party will be able to issue subpoenas, potentially impeach members of Trump's administration, and control must-pass funding bills like the Farm Bill. Grist staff writes that Trump will have to negotiate with the party to avoid a government shutdown.

Listed below are some highlights of the "blue wave" that will help rural areas the most:

• Asheville — devastated by Hurricane Helene and a lack of federal assistance — flipped the house blue. “In a rally held on the eve of the election, President Trump promised to deliver more hurricane aid money, but only if North Carolina elected Republicans.”

• House Democrats could make the administration spend money on climate by unfreezing President Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

• Texas elected a Democratic senator for the first time in nearly 40 years; he supports renewable energy while maintaining oil and gas jobs.

• Montana voted for a Democratic house seat. The candidate is anti-data center, pro-renewables.

• Democrats flipped Georgia’s utility commission, which will determine "how the state’s largest utility makes energy and how much customers pay for it."

• Statewide Democratic wins in transportation expect to raise money for public transport.

• Voters rejected adding a "right to natural gas" clause in Colorado’s constitution.

Voters restricted data centers in communities across the country this Election Day

Voters across the country made one thing clear on Election Day 2026: They don't want data centers in their communities. Data centers can be built anywhere, but in recent months, there has been a big  push to build them largely in rural areas.

Alex Brown reports for Stateline (republished and linked here from Next City) that 35 "ballot measures to restrict data centers were passed by voters or were leading in ongoing vote counts" as of Wednesday morning. In Ohio alone, Brown reports that voters in 21 municipalities "overwhelmingly backed new restrictions or declined to approve measures that affirmed the buildout" of data centers. 

Ballot measures on Tuesday "included outright prohibitions, temporary moratoriums, limitations on energy use, mandating voter approval before construction and advisory measures urging local officials to restrict data centers," Brown reports, adding that an NBC exit poll found that 56 percent of voters said data centers were a major issue for them.

Rural voters helped Democrats win on Election Day 2026, Washington Post data shows

Rural voters were a significant part of the Democrats' overwhelming victories on Election Day 2026, according to data compiled by The Washington Post on Wednesday morning. 

"Rural areas, suburbs and major cities all moved toward Democratic candidates by double digits compared with the 2024 election," report Clara Ence Morse, Eric Lau and Ted Armus for the Post. 

They write that voters from a range of demographics "backed Democrats by overwhelming numbers" this midterm election, catapulting Democrats into control of the U.S. House and Senate. Midterm turnout is historically and consistently low and almost always favors the sitting president, "but these results included new high-water marks for Democrats, who won in multiple states for the first time in decades — and in nearly a century in the case of Kansas," where rural voters swung Democrat by 20 points. 

Read more about historical races and wins, and see some compelling visuals of the Democratic pendulum swing, here. 

Trump Administration's proposed recension of Roadless Rule could threaten protected lands with future development

The Trump Administration filed a proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement (EIS) in August to rescind the Roadless Rule that protects inventoried land without roads from further development, reports Ilana Newman for The Daily Yonder. Many in rural communities say the Roadless Rule protects their economy and way of life.

The ruling applies to 59 million acres of public land, spanning the Western U.S. and Alaska to New England and Appalachia. Established in 2001, the Roadless Rule protects lands without roads, but “there are plenty of primitive roads in what is known as inventoried roadless areas, or the land that is protected by the Roadless Rule,” Newman writes. “What the Roadless Rule does is prevent any additional development, road building, or logging in those areas.”

As of Aug. 18, the filing of the proposed rule opened a 30-day public comment period. Rescinding the ruling would allow local hands to better manage forests for wildfire risk, according to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. Rural commenters from Alaska, Appalachia, Montana, New Mexico and Washington disagree:

• Washington: Those touched by some of the state’s biggest wildfires think roads would add to risk. While roads are a critical firefighting tool, most wildfires are caused by humans — ignited adjacent to roads. Arguments for the rescission say roads allow for better forest management before and during fires, but locals say there isn’t enough evidence, especially with low-maintenance on current roads.
• New Mexico: In the mining town of Silver Springs, “even those who work in mining, [are] opposed to proposed new mines that overlap with inventoried roadless areas in the Gila National Forest.”
• Montana: Inventoried Kootenai National Forest in Montana is used as a conservation site for grizzly bears, with forests designated for growing bear foods such as salmonberries and thimbleberries. New roads in the area could threaten those efforts. 
• Alaska: In Alaska's Tongass National Forest — the largest in the U.S. — locals believe rescinding the Roadless Rule would allow for the return of a bygone logging era that would threaten the forest. 
• Appalachia: Rural communities in parts of the region rely on drinking water that comes from land protected by the Roadless Rule. Forested areas in the south are important to keep water treatment costs down.