Mississippi Senate Race: Democrat Colom leads Hyde-Smith by 0.0007%
FILE -- Democrat Scott Colom and Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith are separated by less than 100 votes in the Mississippi Senate race. (Photo by Rogelio V. Solis/Getty Images and Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Democrats claimed major wins during Tuesday’s midterm elections. One of the biggest was majority control of the Senate. Now, the question becomes how large will that majority will be, and one of the key states to getting that answer will be Mississippi.
By the numbers:
Democratic candidate Scott Colom holds the narrowest of edges over Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, but to describe the state district attorney’s lead as razor-thin could be considered a wild overstatement.
Colom’s advantage over the one-term senator as of Wednesday afternoon was just 65 votes out of the nearly one million counted so far, or, to put it another way, less than 0.0007% – or seven ten-thousandths – of the vote.
Big picture view:
Mississippi, which President Donald Trump won by 17 points two years ago, has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982, and Colom would be the first Black Senator from the state since Reconstruction.
Colom rode strong support from majority-Black counties to make the race against Hyde-Smith, who was appointed to the seat in 2018 and won reelection by nearly 10 points two years later, unexpectedly competitive.
What's next:
While most states will automatically conduct a recount in very close races, Mississippi law does not provide an automatic trigger for one. The loser can turn to the courts, though, and ask a judge to order one.
Dig deeper:
Mississippi is one of two states where The Associated Press has not declared a winner. In Alaska, the Democratic candidate also holds a slight lead. Former Rep. Mary Peltola is ahead of Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan in a race that gained nationwide headlines and a DOJ lawsuit because of a second candidate on the ballot named Dan Sullivan.
If both Colom and Peltola end up winning their respective races, they will give the Democratic Party a 56-44 majority in the Senate, a gain of nine seats. Additionally, Democrats are also looking forward to taking control of the House in January as well, giving them full control of the legislative branch.