The U.S. Senate election in Mississippi remained unresolved as of Wednesday morning, with Democrat Scott Colom holding a narrow lead over Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. With approximately 96% of the votes counted, Colom led Hyde-Smith by just over 1,100 votes. This result follows a period during the morning when the two candidates were separated by only a few dozen votes.
Mississippi has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1982. The state was won by Donald Trump by 20 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election. Sen. Hyde-Smith, 67, has served in the Senate since 2018 and is seeking reelection, while Colom, 43, is a district attorney who campaigned on issues related to health care and the cost of living.
Democrats secured control of the Senate during the midterm elections by flipping at least four Republican-held seats. These victories occurred in several states that Donald Trump won by double digits in 2024. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Colom told supporters that the results were "trending in our direction" and noted that his campaign was winning in counties where observers previously thought they could not compete.
The outcome of this race will determine the final margin of the new Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate. For the residents of Mississippi, the result will decide whether they are represented by a two-term Republican incumbent or a new Democratic senator. While Democrats have already secured enough seats to control the chamber, an additional seat in Mississippi would provide a larger buffer for their legislative agenda when the new session begins in January.
The current vote count shows a margin of just 1,100 votes out of hundreds of thousands cast. A victory for Colom would follow a 20-point margin of victory for the Republican presidential candidate in 2024.
The final result remains pending as officials continue to process the remaining 4% of ballots. The outcome will join the outstanding race in Alaska in determining the exact composition of the Senate. As of Wednesday morning, no official winner has been declared by major news outlets.