Democrat Scott Colom leads Mississippi Senate race by 28 votes
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Democrat Scott Colom led Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 28 votes with about 97% counted.
If it holds, Mississippi would send its first Black senator since Reconstruction.
Background
Scott Colom is a district attorney for four counties along the Mississippi-Alabama border and a former nominee to become a U.S. district judge; he is the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. Cindy Hyde-Smith is the Republican incumbent, the first woman to represent Mississippi in Congress, elected in 2018 and endorsed by Donald Trump. Mississippi has the largest share of African American residents of any U.S. state, at nearly 40%, and the race tightened as Black voters turned out amid anger over the Supreme Court's voting rights reversals. The last Black senators from Mississippi, Hiram Revels (1870) and Blanche K. Bruce (1874), served during Reconstruction.
How it unfolded
- 1870Hiram Revels of Natchez was appointed by the Mississippi legislature to finish a predecessor's term, becoming the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate; he resigned the following year.
- 1874State lawmakers elected Blanche K. Bruce, who had escaped slavery, as the nation's second Black senator; he served until 1881.
- 2026 -04After Louisiana v. Callais gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, Southern states began dismantling congressional districts with African American majorities.
- Nov 2, 2026The American Prospect published a piece asking whether Mississippi could send an African American to the U.S. Senate in 2026.
- Nov 4, 2026Shortly after midnight Colom led Hyde-Smith by 28 votes out of nearly 1 million cast with about 97% counted; Hinds County officials paused counting for the night with thousands of affidavit ballots outstanding.
- Nov 4, 2026By 3 a.m. Colom led by 43 votes, 462,821 to 462,778, with an estimated 95.6% of ballots tabulated; independent Ty Pinkins had 19,935 votes.
- Nov 4, 2026With 96% counted Wednesday morning, Colom's lead was under 50 votes, with about 50,000 ballots still to be counted; his campaign estimated 10,000 to 15,000 affidavit ballots remained statewide.
- Nov 13, 2026Certification deadline for the race.
Who’s saying what
- Colom
- Colom said "we're gonna win. This is our election," and that he has "an army of lawyers" to make sure the process follows the law.
- Trump
- Trump campaigned alongside Hyde-Smith last month, saying he was there "because Cindy's doing great, but I just got to make sure. I can't take a chance."
Still unverified
The race was too close to call in the early hours of Nov. 4 and hinges on uncounted affidavit ballots; Hyde-Smith declared victory Tuesday night, which Colom referenced when he said "Bless her heart."