Mississippi Senate Race Stays Close

Mississippi voters returned to the polls in large numbers last Tuesday, with some precincts reporting record turnout. The U.S. Senate race remains too close to call nearly a week after the midterms, with results still shifting as officials process outstanding votes.

As of 10 a.m. Monday, Associated Press data showed Democratic challenger Scott Colom leading incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by nearly 2,500 votes. Colom has captured 49.1% of the total, while Hyde-Smith holds 48.8%. Independent candidate Ty Pinkins has received approximately 2% of the vote. More than 953,000 ballots have been counted, representing roughly 97% of the total, but thousands of affidavit and mailed absentee ballots are still outstanding.

Secretary of State Michael Watson told Mornings with Richard Cross that his office has received unofficial results from 75 of the state’s 82 counties. He explained that counties have 10 days to certify their results. "The reason why they’re unofficial is because they’ve got 10 days to certify their results," Watson said. "Eventually, by Thursday, you’ll see that unofficial change to official to make sure they’ve got everything correct."

Watson reported that 12,767 affidavit ballots have already been processed. Approximately 77% of those were accepted, adding roughly 9,831 votes to the tally. Affidavit ballots are used when a voter’s eligibility cannot be immediately verified, such as when a name is missing from the list or photo ID is lacking. Voters who cast these ballots due to missing ID must present one at their county clerk’s office by Tuesday. Other verification issues are handled by the state’s Election Commission.

Watson estimated that roughly 8,000 affidavit ballots and 2,800 absentee mail-in ballots remain to be counted. Mailed ballots must be received within five business days of Election Day, which is Tuesday. Watson noted that the exact total number of outstanding ballots is not yet known until counties upload their data to the statewide system. "We do not know that total number," he said. "If you called each county, you could get the number, but until that hits the statewide system, we don’t know that exact number."

Hyde-Smith, the state’s former agriculture commissioner, is seeking her second full term. She was appointed in April 2018 and won reelection in 2020 by a 10-point margin. This year’s contest is the closest of her Senate career. Colom, a Columbus-based district attorney, is attempting to become the first Democrat elected to represent Mississippi in the Senate since 1982. The race is expected to be called by Friday at the latest.