Could a Democrat Win Mississippi? Colom Leads Hyde-Smith by About 1,700 Votes as the Count Drags On

Mississippi has not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1982. On Thursday, it was still unclear whether that streak was over.

As of Wednesday night, Democrat Scott Colom led Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 1,138 votes, 464,926 to 463,788, with about 96% of the expected vote counted, according to ABC News. The Associated Press had not called the race. In a state Donald Trump won with 61% of the vote just two years ago, it had become the closest and most surprising Senate contest of the midterms.

A lead that moved all night

The margin was razor-thin for most of the count. Early Wednesday, CNN and NBC had Colom ahead by fewer than 50 votes. Later reports put it at 65, and then, as a new batch of ballots was added, at more than 1,000.

The race had already shifted dramatically. NBC News calculated that it moved about 23 points toward Democrats compared with the 2024 presidential vote. An independent, Ty Pinkins, an Army veteran and former Democrat, took about 2% of the vote.

Who is Scott Colom

Colom is the district attorney for four counties along the Mississippi-Alabama border, including Lowndes County, and has held the job since 2016. He won the Democratic nomination with about 73% of the vote. If he wins, he would be Mississippi's first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction.

He and Hyde-Smith have history. In 2023, she blocked President Joe Biden's nomination of Colom to be a federal judge, citing his ties to a political action committee funded by George Soros. Colom said he had not requested the money. That decision left him free to challenge her this year, and he launched his campaign by attacking her vote for Trump's "big beautiful bill" and its Medicaid cuts.

The senator he is trying to unseat

Hyde-Smith was appointed to the Senate in 2018 and won a runoff that year. She was elected to a full term in 2020 with 54% of the vote. CNN described her as an incumbent who has underperformed other Republicans in recent elections. Trump rallied with her last month to shore up her support.

The race was bruising. CNN reported that Colom deleted an ad that used an artificial intelligence-generated depiction of Hyde-Smith running from reporters after the state's Republican attorney general, Lynn Fitch, threatened legal action.

What is left to count

The outcome now depends on ballots that are not yet in the total. Mississippi's Secretary of State, Michael Watson, said about 3,600 mail ballots could still arrive, because the state accepts properly postmarked absentee ballots for five business days after Election Day. There are also an unknown number of provisional ballots, which Mississippi calls affidavit ballots and which are cast when, for example, a voter lacks acceptable photo ID or goes to the wrong precinct.

Colom's campaign says about 15,000 affidavit ballots could be pending. The Secretary of State's office said it could not give a definitive number. Counties have 10 days to certify results, and the statewide deadline is November 13.

Both campaigns say they will win. Colom told reporters he believes the count will put him over the top and that he has lawyers and volunteers in each county. Hyde-Smith told supporters Tuesday that not every vote had been counted and that she would remain senator. CNN reported that both sides are preparing for a legal fight.

No automatic recount

If the margin stays this tight, Mississippi offers a surprise: the Secretary of State's office told ABC News that the state has no formal recount process. That could make the legal fight over how the ballots are counted even more important than the number itself.

Why it matters for the Senate

Democrats have already flipped seven Senate seats and have at least 54. A Colom win would push that number to 55, and it would be one of the most striking results of an election in which Democrats won the House and the Senate. A Hyde-Smith win would lift Republicans to 45 seats, or 46 if Sen. Dan Sullivan also holds on in Alaska, where Democrat Mary Peltola leads by a few hundred votes.

What to watch next

• Late-arriving mail ballots, which can come in for five business days.
• The review of provisional ballots in each county.
• Any legal challenges, since the state has no formal recount.
• The November 13 certification deadline.

Related coverage

• Democrats win Congress: 2026 midterm results, Senate flips and what is still undecided
• What is an affidavit ballot? Why thousands of Mississippi votes could decide the Senate race
• What is 'Decoy Dan'? Alaska's Senate race, Peltola vs. Sullivan, explained
• What Democrats controlling Congress means for Trump: subpoenas, vetoes and nominees

Sources: ABC News, CNN, CBS News, NBC News, AFP, WREG and the Associated Press, November 3-5, 2026. Results can change as votes are counted. Last updated: November 5, 2026.