Democrat Colom leads by under 2,000 votes in Mississippi Senate race

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 7 Nov, 01:09 · Archive

Democrat Scott Colom is narrowly ahead of Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's Senate election, with ballots still being counted.

Democrat Scott Colom is narrowly leading Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's Senate election. With 96.2% of votes counted, Colom holds a lead of just under 2,000 votes — a margin of 0.2 percentage points — in what would be a stunning upset in a state that has voted Republican.

Longshot candidate Ty Pinkins told a local television station that he remained in the race after an April poll showed he had no chance of winning. Pinkins said his strategy was to help Colom, who like him is Black, by splitting the Republican vote. He intentionally avoided campaigning in heavily Black areas to prevent cutting into Colom's support. Pinkins received 2.1 percentage points of the vote, more than ten times Colom's current lead.

"The portion of the vote that I drew — and people were concerned about splitting the Black vote — what I actually did was split the Republican vote," Pinkins said. "I'll be the boogeyman."

Voting is still ongoing in what has been described as one of the slowest and most decentralised election processes in the United States. Democratic and Republican lawyers and groups have deployed hundreds of volunteers and attorneys across Mississippi's 82 counties to oversee the final counting rounds. Both sides are trading sharp legal letters about procedures for counting remaining ballots.

Mississippi law allows voters who cast affidavit ballots without photo identification to present an acceptable ID or sign a religious objection affidavit by 10 November, the final deadline for mail-in ballots to arrive and be counted. The state has no automatic recount law; recounts can only occur if ordered by a court following a lawsuit from a political party or campaign, and any process would have to proceed county by county rather than statewide.

How it is being reported

• No one knows how many ballots are outstanding in Mississippi's Senate raceThe razor-thin margin between GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Scott Colom is shining a light on an election process in Mississippi that is among the slowest and most decentralized in the U.S.NPR · 6 Nov, 19:50
• Lawyers descend on Mississippi as vote counting continues in razor-thin Senate raceDemocratic and Republican lawyers and groups trade sharp legal letters about procedures for counting ballots in tight race Democrat Scott Colom is on the verge of winning a Senate seat in Mississippi in a stunning upset, but ballots are still being counted in a close race where Colom holds a lead of just under 2,000 votes over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith. Losing ruby-red Mississippi would be the final straw for Republicans after a midterm sweep by Democrats that turned Texas and South Carolina blue. A possible legal fight is also brewing, as both sides trade sharp legal letters…Guardian World · 6 Nov, 18:51
• Mississippi Senate: Longshot Ty Pinkins says he aimed to spoil Hyde-Smith, boost Colom voteTy Pinkins said he avoided campaigning in heavily Black areas of Mississippi to avoid harming chances for Democrat Scott Colom, who like him is Black.CNBC · 6 Nov, 18:03

In this story: Scott Colom · Cindy Hyde-Smith · Ty Pinkins · Mississippi · Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee · Elias Law Group

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log