Unofficial returns early Wednesday put Democrat Scott Colom 28 votes ahead of Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, with no winner called and thousands of ballots still out.
Where the count stands
NBC News, citing Associated Press data updated around 3 a.m. Eastern on Nov. 4, 2026, listed the Mississippi U.S. Senate race as too close to call. Unofficial tallies widely reported from those returns showed:
- Scott Colom (D): 462,779 votes (about 48.9%)
- Cindy Hyde-Smith (R, incumbent): 462,751 votes (about 48.9%)
- Ty Pinkins (I): about 2.1%
That is a 28-vote gap out of roughly 945,000 ballots counted, with an estimated 95% or more of the expected vote in, according to NBC and local free outlets including the Mississippi Free Press and Mississippi Today. AP had not projected a winner early Wednesday.
Hinds County election officials paused counting overnight, the Mississippi Free Press reported, so a fuller picture waited on morning work. The Colom campaign estimated about 10,000 to 15,000 affidavit ballots remained outstanding statewide, according to Mississippi Today. Affidavit ballots are provisional-style ballots voters cast when their eligibility needs a later check.
What each side said
At her Flowood watch party Tuesday night, Hyde-Smith told supporters the night was longer than expected but said she was in a good lead at that moment and assured them she would continue as their senator, Mississippi Today reported. State GOP Chairman Mike Hurst said he still expected her to win and called Mississippi a Republican state.
Colom told supporters the results were trending his way and pledged to “fight to protect every vote,” Mississippi Today reported. His campaign manager, Gerard Henderson, told the Jackson crowd the race was “not over.”
On X early Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote: “If Mississippi goes down, that will give Dems 56 Senate seats.”
Why this race matters
Forecasters had rated the seat as safely Republican. President Donald Trump won Mississippi by more than 20 points in 2024, HuffPost noted, and Trump campaigned for Hyde-Smith in Corinth on Oct. 26. Former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared for Colom.
If Colom ultimately prevails, he would be Mississippi’s first Democratic U.S. senator since John C. Stennis’s final election in 1982, and the first Black senator from the state since Reconstruction, the Mississippi Free Press reported. Mississippi federal general elections need only a plurality—no runoff. The state has no automatic recount law, though a recount can be requested from a judge, according to HuffPost.
Neither campaign had conceded early Wednesday. The next steps are finishing remaining ballots and county canvasses before any official certification.
Sources: NBC News; Mississippi Today; Mississippi Free Press; HuffPost; Ron DeSantis on X
