By Tim Thorse, Margaret Baker and Scott Watkins, Biloxi Sun Herald
Mississippi has provided, arguably, the surprise of Election Day, as the battle for the U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democratic challenger Scott Colom is separated by a razor-thin margin.
At 5 a.m. CST Wednesday, with more than 945,000 votes counted across the state, the candidates are separated by only 43 votes, with Colom in the lead. The Associated Press reports 96% of the votes have been counted. In an interview with CNN, a representative of the Colom campaign said there is believed to be up to 15,000 affidavit votes that have yet to be counted.
And the counting of those affidavit votes might not be complete until next week, as according to the Mississippi Secretary of State, a “voter casting an affidavit ballot because he/she did not present an acceptable form of photo ID may not have his/her ballot rejected for this reason if he/she presents an acceptable form of photo ID in the Circuit or Municipal Clerk’s Office within five business days after Election Day.”
At 3 a.m., the New York Times live forecast for the race showed the result as a “tossup,” with an estimated margin of victory of +0.2 for Hyde-Smith. The range of outcomes showed anything between Hyde-Smith winning by 1.6 points and Colom by 1.1 as possible.
There is no automatic recount law in the state and, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Mississippi is one of nine states that do not provide a requested recount process. Mississippi is one of three states where a recount is conducted only by court order.
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Hyde-Smith spoke to supporters at about 11 p.m. Tuesday, according to Mississippi Today, saying “I’ll tell you the Democrats got out and worked, they really got out and worked, and a lot of them showed up today. But not enough of them. I’ll just tell you that right now,” Hyde-Smith said. “I assure you I will continue to be your U.S. senator.”
At 1 a.m., Colom posted a message to supporters on social media, saying “Our race is too close to call. We are going to make sure every single vote has been counted, and I am confident we will ultimately flip this seat. Voters know what’s at stake and we saw historic voter turnout in this election across Mississippi, including thousands voting for the first time. There is a lot of work to be done and we are going to make sure every voice is heard.”
©2026 Sun Herald (Bilxoi, Miss.). Visit at sunherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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