Colom leads Hyde-Smith by more than 2,500 votes as Mississippi awaits final Senate result

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Mississippi and the nation are still waiting for a final result in the U.S. Senate race. Election officials spent the weekend working through votes.

The latest numbers show Democrat Scott Colom with a lead of more than 2,500 votes over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.

County clerks have until Friday to certify all their results.

According to the secretary of state, Michael Watson, as of Sunday, 75 of 82 Mississippi counties have uploaded their unofficial election results, with just over 2,800 absentee mail-in ballots still out and 12,767 affidavit ballots processed.

About 77% of them have been accepted.

Here are the latest numbers from the Statewide Election Management System: 75 of 82 counties have now uploaded their unofficial results. There are just over 2,800 absentee mail in ballots still out. 12,767 affidavit ballots have now been processed with roughly 77% of them being accepted.

— Secretary Michael Watson (@MichaelWatsonMS) November 8, 2026

Mississippi’s voting history

The close race has political experts looking at Mississippi’s voting history and what the election could mean for the future.

It has been 44 years since Mississippi elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate, when John Stennis won reelection in 1982.

Experts weigh in

William Newman, associate teaching professor of legal studies at the University of Southern Mississippi, said, “This is something in many respects that we have not seen in our lifetime, particularly in Mississippi.”

Marvin King, associate professor of political science at Ole Miss, said, “There were a significant number of split-ticket voters, more than we normally see, so the lesson there is you can’t take your voters for granted.”

Both said future elections will show whether those voting patterns continue.

Want more WLBT news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it and include the headline of the story in your email.