Mississippi Senate race CNN coverage
The gist
Democrat Scott Colom leads Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 1,813 votes with about 96% counted.
Mississippi hasn't sent a Democrat to the Senate in nearly 40 years.
How it unfolded
- Nov 3, 2026Election Day in Mississippi; a Jackson State University student displays an 'I Voted 2026' sticker in Jackson.
- Nov 4, 2026Colom tells press at his Jackson headquarters, 'We are going to win this.'
- Nov 5, 2026Colom leads by just over 1,000 votes as of midnight with about 96% of ballots in; the race is too close to call, with roughly 15,000 provisional ballots pending verification per his campaign.
Key terms
- provisional ballots
- A ballot used to record a vote whose voter eligibility must be resolved before it counts.
- mail-in ballots
- Voting in which ballot papers are sent to voters by post and returned by mail instead of voting in person.
Source: Wikipedia