MISSISSIPPI — A Senate race in deep-red Mississippi that has gripped the country turned into one of the final nail-biters of the 2026 midterms on Friday night.
Democrat Scott Colom held a narrow lead over Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, with about 9,242 affidavit ballots already processed and 3,139 mail ballots still outstanding.
To catch or overtake Colom, Hyde-Smith would need to win 53.2% of the remaining votes.
The contest is historic because a Colom victory would make him Mississippi's first Black senator since the era of Reconstruction following the Civil War.
Hyde-Smith had previously been convicted of a misdemeanor for a campaign video joke about interracial sex acts, a legal penalty that did not stop her from mounting an aggressive campaign against Colom.
The sticking point in the recount emerged around three hundred votes separating the two candidates, according to La Repubblica, which noted issues with duplicate candidates in the north and undecided voters in the south.
Both sides have filed legal challenges over ballot counting procedures and provisional ballots in Alaska as well as Mississippi. The outcome could ultimately end up before federal courts.
Colom's camp said they were confident but acknowledged they would continue pushing for every remaining vote to be tallied. Hyde-Smith's lawyers have warned their client faces an uphill battle but refused to concede until all results are certified by state officials.
The next major milestone will be a potential federal court hearing on December 11 to resolve any disputes over the final count, with both campaigns expected to submit additional evidence and witness testimony during that session.
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