Colom and Hyde-Smith separated by 43 votes in Mississippi Senate race

Biloxi, Miss. (WLOX/Gray News). The race for a U.S. Senate seat in Mississippi remains undecided as of early Wednesday morning. At 3 a.m., 95.6% of votes had been counted. Democrat Scott Colom leads Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by a margin of 43 votes. Colom has received 462,821 votes, while Hyde-Smith has 462,778.

Independent candidate Ty Pinkins has garnered 19,935 votes. Because this is a general congressional contest, the candidate with the highest number of votes will secure the seat. No runoff election will be held.

Both candidates addressed supporters at their respective watch parties as the final votes were being tallied. Neither candidate officially declared victory during their speeches. However, both stated they expected to be the next Mississippi senator within a few days.

Hyde-Smith told the crowd, “It has been such an amazing, amazing path, and I think that we ran a very good campaign. We are in a very good lead right now. We still don't have all the votes in, so we're not calling all of it tonight, but we're in a very good lead, and I assure you I will continue to be your U.S. Senator.”

Colom spoke to his supporters, saying, “I’m telling you, deep down in my soul, I believe we’re about to show the country Mississippi matters. God bless you all. Good night. See you later. We’re going to win.”