Mississippi has elected the Democrat Scott Colom in a historic race in the traditionally deep-red state, making him its first Black senator since shortly after the US civil war. The closely contested race was called more than a week after the US midterms, with Colom running against the Republican incumbent, Cindy Hyde-Smith. How did Colom’s grassroots campaign win despite limited early backing from national Democrats? Lucy Hough speaks to politics and democracy reporter George Chidi