Four of five congressional races in Mississippi were called early into Election Night on Tuesday, but more than five hours after the polls closed, the most anticipated race of the cycle remained too close to call.
U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican seeking her second full term in office, was narrowly trailing Democratic challenger Scott Colom as the clock ticked into the early-morning hours of Wednesday. Colom held a 28-vote lead over Hyde-Smith with 97% of votes counted, according to the Associated Press. Independent Ty Pinkins had 2.1% of the vote, a potentially significant share in a race this close.
Colom, a Columbus-based district attorney whose appointment to a federal judgeship was blocked by Hyde-Smith in 2023, is seeking to become the first Democrat elected to represent Mississippi in the U.S. Senate since 1982. Coincidentally, that is the same year Colom was born.
As of 12:45 a.m. Wednesday, 29 of Mississippi’s 82 counties were reporting less than 99% of votes counted. Those included Tate, Tishomingo, Calhoun, Warren, Scott, and Marion counties, each reporting 90%. Madison and Hinds counties, both reporting 95%, also had potentially decisive numbers of votes left to count.
Colom’s campaign manager, Gerard Henderson, said in a video posted to X that at least 15,000 affidavit ballots remained uncounted. An affidavit ballot is a provisional ballot cast when questions arise about a voter’s eligibility or when a voter encounters certain issues at the polls, such as not having an acceptable form of photo identification or voting at the wrong precinct within their county.
Affidavit ballots are generally reviewed and counted after Election Day, meaning the race between Hyde-Smith and Colom could take several days to call.
Colom’s narrow lead over Hyde-Smith as of early Wednesday morning stood in stark contrast to the performances of other Mississippi Republican incumbents. U.S. Reps. Trent Kelly, Michael Guest, and Mike Ezell all had their races called earlier in the evening, each securing dominant leads of more than 15 percentage points.
The disparity suggests thousands of voters who supported Republican candidates in the U.S. House race chose not to support Hyde-Smith in the Senate race.
Mississippi’s lone Democratic incumbent, Rep. Bennie Thompson, was reelected to his 18th term, holding a lead of more than 37 points as of Wednesday morning.