Mississippi Senate Race Still Uncalled as Colom Leads

Democrat Scott Colom leads Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by 1,138 votes in the Mississippi Senate race, according to the Associated Press, with counting still under way and the contest too close to call. Colom held 49.0 percent of the vote to Hyde-Smith's 48.9 percent, with about 96 percent of ballots counted by late Wednesday evening.

Colom moved ahead shortly after midnight on Wednesday and his advantage grew steadily through the day. It stood at 28 votes in the early hours, widened to 43 by the morning and reached 65 by the afternoon, before later returns from Democratic-leaning counties pushed it past a thousand. Hyde-Smith had led for most of election night. The gap closed as results arrived from Hinds County and from majority-Black counties in the Delta and southwest Mississippi that had reported late.

Hinds County, home to the state capital Jackson, delivered the largest share of Colom's late surge. He took more than four-fifths of the vote there. Colom also carried DeSoto County in the state's northwest corner with 51.9 percent, a county President Donald Trump won by 24 points in 2024. The strength of his showing in suburban and rural counties that Republicans usually carry explains why a contest that polls had pointed to a comfortable Hyde-Smith win is still undecided.

Ballots still to be counted

About 3,600 mail ballots remained outstanding on Wednesday, according to Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson. State law counts mail ballots postmarked by Election Day if they arrive within five business days, which gives them until 5 p.m. on Nov. 10. Thousands of affidavit ballots cast by voters whose eligibility needed checking also remain to be processed, and Colom's campaign estimated that between ten thousand and fifteen thousand of those were still outstanding. Counties have until Nov. 13 to send certified results to the secretary of state's office, and the race is not expected to be called before the mail ballots are in.

The rules give the count time but leave little room for a challenge. Mississippi holds no runoff in a general election for federal office, so the candidate with the most votes wins the seat even without a majority. The state also has no automatic recount for a close contest, and no procedure for a candidate to request a recount. A recount would need an order from a judge. Independent candidate Ty Pinkins, who took about two percent of the vote, finished well ahead of the gap between the leading candidates.

A result with history attached

If Colom's lead holds, he would be the first Democrat to win a Senate contest in Mississippi since John Stennis in 1982. He would also be the first Black senator from the state since Blanche K. Bruce, who took office in 1875 and left office in 1881. Bruce was Mississippi's second Black senator, after Hiram Revels, who served during Reconstruction. Colom, a district attorney from Columbus, said on Wednesday that he was "confident" he was on track to win. Hyde-Smith has also expressed confidence in the result.

The outcome carries weight beyond Mississippi. Democrats have already secured control of the Senate, with at least 54 seats in the next Congress, and a win in Mississippi would widen that majority. Vice President JD Vance has blamed the war with Iran for the Republican losses, a claim that has divided the party. Stocks rallied after the results, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising three percent. Alaska's Senate contest is the other still uncalled. The national picture gives both campaigns a reason to watch every remaining ballot: the final margin in the Senate will shape how much room the new majority has to pass its agenda and confirm nominees.

The campaign behind the close count

The closeness of the contest owes something to the history between the candidates. Hyde-Smith blocked Colom's nomination to a federal judgeship in the Northern District of Mississippi in 2023, when President Joe Biden had put his name forward. She cited past support for Colom from a political action committee backed by billionaire George Soros, along with his support for transgender rights and health care. That decision freed Colom to run for the seat instead.

Hyde-Smith was appointed to the Senate in 2018 and won election to a full term in 2020. No woman had represented Mississippi in Congress before her. She previously served as the state's agriculture commissioner and in the Mississippi Senate, and she has held the seat through a period when Republicans won statewide contests with ease. A loss now would end that run in a state where her party has dominated federal elections for decades.

Both campaigns drew national figures into the state in the final days. Trump appeared at a rally for Hyde-Smith in Corinth on Oct. 26, while former President Barack Obama appeared in an advertisement for Colom. Former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned for Colom in person. The attention reflected a contest that Republican strategists had treated as safe until late returns showed otherwise.

Counting continues across Mississippi's counties, and neither campaign has conceded. The Associated Press has not called the race, and the next update will come when counties report the remaining mail and affidavit ballots. Until then the seat stays with the count, and the country waits on a state that has not sent a Democrat to the Senate in more than 40 years. For the latest figures, see the Associated Press election results and the Mississippi Free Press.