Mississippi Senate Race Comes Down to the Last Ballots as Colom Holds His Lead

Ballot deadlines have passed in Mississippi's unexpectedly close Senate race, and Democrat Scott Colom still holds his lead over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, The Washington Post reported.

Tuesday was the deadline for provisional ballots to be resolved and for mail-in absentee ballots to arrive, and Colom extended his tight lead as those ballots were counted, CNBC reported. Official results could come as soon as Friday, CBS News reported.

The New York Times reported that the tight race has highlighted how difficult the state's strict election laws can be for voters. An unusually high number of absentee and provisional ballots will decide the outcome, PBS reported, and Newsweek reported the race could hinge on affidavit ballots, which voters cast when there is a question about their eligibility at the polls.

Mississippi is one of the most reliably Republican states in the country. Hyde-Smith has held the seat since 2018, and Democrats have not won a Senate race in the state in decades. That a Democrat is ahead at all is a sign of how strong last week's wave was, even in the Deep South.

CBS News reported that Mississippi's race and Alaska's are the two Senate contests still uncalled a week after Election Day. Every seat matters for the balance of power in a Senate that Democrats will control next year.

Mississippi has no automatic recount, so a candidate who wants to contest the outcome must wait for final results and then file a lawsuit, The Washington Post reported. If the final margin is narrow, the race could move from county election offices to the courts.

There are lessons here for Republicans, whatever the final count. A Senate seat in Mississippi should never be close. Turnout, candidate quality and the national mood all matter, and the party cannot assume that any state is safe. Voters who stayed home, or who crossed over, were sending a message.

There is also a lesson about election rules. Clear laws and strict verification protect the integrity of every vote, and Mississippi's process is designed to make sure every ballot is cast by an eligible voter. But election officials must also make sure every eligible voter can cast a ballot that counts. Both goals matter, and they are not in conflict.

Watch for final county tallies and the state's official certification. Watch, too, for any legal challenge. In a state where Republicans rarely sweat a Senate race, this result will tell conservatives a great deal about how deep last week's wave ran.