Mississippi Senate Race: Colom's Lead Grows to 1,936 Votes With Every Precinct Reporting, Still Too Early to Call
Every Mississippi precinct has now reported, and Scott Colom's lead over Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith has grown to 1,936 votes in the Associated Press count. The race is still too early to call, because the ballots that remain - affidavit and late-arriving mail ballots - are more than enough to erase it.
Mississippi's United States Senate race remained too early to call on Friday morning, even with every precinct in the state now reporting. The Associated Press's latest tally, updated as this cycle was produced, puts Democrat Scott Colom at 466,959 votes to Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's 465,023 - a lead of 1,936 votes, up from 1,813 in the count this station reported at 5 a.m. All 1,736 precincts have reported, and the AP estimates 95.68 percent of the vote has been counted.
The margin has moved in one direction since the first overnight count put the candidates 43 votes apart early Wednesday: 65 votes Wednesday afternoon, 1,138 by Wednesday evening, about 1,800 on Thursday, and now 1,936. Decision Desk HQ's totals, reported by the Clarion Ledger, sit close to the AP's - Colom at 466,735 votes (49.04 percent), Hyde-Smith at 464,902 (48.85 percent), and independent Ty Pinkins at 20,044 (2.11 percent), a third-candidate total roughly ten times the margin between the leaders.
What is left is a defined pool of ballots on a defined calendar. Affidavit ballots - cast by voters whose eligibility could not be confirmed at the polling place, often for lack of an acceptable photo ID or an inactive registration - are being verified by county officials, and those voters must confirm their identities within five business days, by Tuesday, November 10, for the ballots to count. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day can also still arrive through November 10. Counties must certify their results by November 13.
The closeness has already produced one false finish: a Congressional Black Caucus PAC post congratulating Colom and declaring history made drew fact checks from Mississippi news organizations, because no winner has been called and thousands of votes remain outstanding. Mississippi law offers no automatic recount and no route for a candidate to request one - it is the only state in the country without a recount provision - so any dispute would go to court after certification, and the secretary of state is expected to declare the final outcome at the start of December. Until then, the last uncalled Senate race in the country stays uncalled.
