Mississippi Senate candidate Scott Colom (D) extended his slim lead by more than 3,000 votes over Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) ahead of two crucial ballot deadlines in the week after Democrats saw sweeping victories in the midterm elections.
The Hill’s election partner Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) found that, with around 95 percent of ballots counted, Colom is slight ahead with 49.11 percent compared to Hyde-Smith’s 48.79 percent — or 470,266 votes to 467,183, respectively — as of 10:31 p.m. EST.
Independent Senate candidate Ty Perkins holds the third place spot at 2.1 percent.
These updates come ahead of a Tuesday deadline for provisional ballots and for the receipt of mail-in absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day.
Colom, a Black attorney, has maintained a narrow lead in one of the biggest surprises of last week’s midterm elections, with the race still too close to call.
On Monday, he called out prominent election forecasters for underestimating his chances of defeating Hyde-Smith in their election ratings, name-dropping the Cook Political Report most notably.
“At some point, we have to talk about … ‘prognosticators’ who had me and other southern candidates labeled as solid R for much of the campaign cycle,” the Democrat wrote on social media.
“They made it much more difficult to fundraise and are part of the reason the South has been neglected for so long,” he continued. “They’re only a reflection of the past and mysteriously avoid any accountability when they’re wrong.”
Despite the numbers, Hyde-Smith has remained optimistic.
The Magnolia State race marks one of two Senate races that have not yet been determined. The Alaska Senate race between Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and former at-large Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) is also still open.
Peltola has expanded her own narrow lead over Sullivan as well. The former lawmaker notched 49 percent to the incumbent’s 47.2 percent as of 11:13 p.m. EST on Monday, with 245,470 ballots counted so far, according to unofficial results from Alaska’s Division of Elections.
The state, under rank choice, will run an instant run-off election if neither candidate collects 50 percent of the first-choice votes and the process repeats until a candidate notches the majority.
