Colom lead increases in Mississippi Senate race as count nears end
Democrat Scott Colom has stretched his lead over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith to 4,404 votes with about 99% of ballots counted in Mississippi. The race is uncalled, thousands of ballots remain, and results must be certified by Friday, November 13, with lawyers from both parties on the ground.
Democrat Scott Colom's lead over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's US Senate race grew to 4,404 votes at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, in the latest tally, as officials finish counting ballots from the November 3 election. The race has not been called.
Colom led 49.18% to 48.72%, with an estimated 99% of votes in. Independent Ty Pinkins had 2.1%. Fewer than 15,000 ballots remain to be processed.
The lead was 2,990 votes when that day began. It was 65 votes on Election Day.
Why the margin keeps growing
Colom has won a higher share of affidavit ballots than he did in votes counted on election night. Those are provisional ballots cast when a voter's eligibility is in question, such as a missing ID. Newly counted votes from Hinds County, the state's second most populous, also helped him. Colom was taking 80% there to Hyde-Smith's 19%.
State officials estimate 12,000 to 20,000 affidavit ballots were cast. Roughly 15,500 had been processed by Tuesday morning. The deadline for affidavit and mail-in ballots was Tuesday, November 10.
County clerks have until Friday, November 13, to certify the results. Each party has sent teams of lawyers to Mississippi, which raises the possibility of legal challenges.
What a Colom win would mean
Mississippi has not elected a Democratic senator since 1982. Colom would be the state's first Black senator since the Reconstruction era. President Donald Trump won the state by more than 22 points in 2024, and few analysts had marked the seat as competitive.
Democrats have already flipped seven Republican-held Senate seats, giving them a majority of at least 54 of 100 seats from January. A Colom win would lift that to 55, with Alaska still to be decided. There, Democrat Mary Peltola led Sen. Dan Sullivan by 4,250 votes with 84% counted. That race could go to ranked-choice ballots.
Colom has voiced confidence. "She doesn't have one," he told reporters last Friday, when asked about Hyde-Smith's path to victory. Hyde-Smith returned to Washington and said she was "feeling very optimistic."
Voters in the state describe a mixed mood. At Jackson State University, 18-year-old Jamyria Dunn, who voted for Colom, said: "I really feel like a change is what we need."
In Brookhaven, Hyde-Smith's birthplace, where Trump won 72% in 2024, cost of living came up. Logger Travis Powe, 29, who backed Hyde-Smith, said: "It always seems, no matter who's in office, there's a spike in gas prices." Trump supporter Keith Scott said the president "did not hold up what they ran on. Bottom line."
The thousands of remaining affidavit and mail-in ballots will be counted before Friday's certification deadline.
