Two days after Election Day, Mississippi's race for the U.S. Senate is still too close to call — and the outcome could be historic.
Democratic challenger Scott Colom, the district attorney for Mississippi's 16th Judicial District, holds a narrow lead over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith. According to the Associated Press, Colom has 466,226 votes (49.0%) to Hyde-Smith's 464,502 (48.9%) — a margin of about 1,724 votes — with 99.83% of precincts reporting. Independent candidate Ty Pinkins has about 2.1% of the vote.
The race is not over. Roughly 3,600 mail-in ballots and potentially 15,000 provisional ballots still need to be counted or cured, and counties have until November 13 to certify their results. Mississippi is the only state in the country with no mechanism for a recount — any recount would require a court order.
Colom, who has served as district attorney in Lowndes County since 2016, was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2022 to serve as a federal judge for the Northern District of Mississippi. Hyde-Smith blocked that nomination in 2023 by refusing to return her blue slip, the Senate custom that lets a home-state senator veto a judicial nominee.
If Colom wins, he would be the first African American to represent Mississippi in the U.S. Senate since Hiram R. Revels in 1870 — and the first ever elected by popular vote. Democrats have not won a Senate election in Mississippi since 1982. Black voters make up about 40% of the state's voting population, and turnout among Black voters surged in this election. Pre-election polls and forecasters had rated the seat Likely or Solid Republican.
The count continues. County clerks across Mississippi have ten days from Election Day to submit certified results, and mail ballots postmarked by Election Day can still arrive and be counted for five additional days.
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