Scott Colom Leads Cindy Hyde-Smith by 2,500 Votes as Mississippi Counts Final Ballots
With roughly 20,000 outstanding ballots remaining, the state's tightest Senate race in years is heading toward a Nov. 13 certification deadline without a guaranteed winner.
By Natalie Cooper ·
Democrat Scott Colom held a narrow lead of approximately 2,500 votes over incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith on Friday night, but Mississippi election officials had not yet declared a winner. The margin remained so tight that county clerks continued counting ballots carefully to ensure final totals were accurate.
Mike Hurst, chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, stated on Thursday that the race was far from decided. He estimated that about 20,000 outstanding ballots still needed to be processed. These include mail-in or absentee ballots and affidavit or provisional ballots that were set aside for verification issues.
Provisional ballots remain a key variable in the count. Voters have until Nov. 10 to resolve any verification issues with these ballots. Emily Ommundsen, a political science professor at the University of Mississippi, noted that counties were being judicious in their counting process specifically because of the narrow margins involved.
Ommundsen said officials were hesitant to draw conclusions about the outcome while final ballots were still being tallied within the legally prescribed period. She emphasized that counties were focused on reporting correct totals before certifying results.
Both campaigns have deployed legal teams to address potential challenges in the coming days. Colom told reporters on Friday that his team was prepared, saying, "We got an army of lawyers. Those election commissioners and circuit clerks, they're not going to be intimidated." The legal presence reflects the high stakes of a race where a few hundred votes could determine the outcome.
Mississippi stands out as the only state in the nation without a specific recourse for a vote recount, though legal challenges remain likely. The state has a hard deadline of Nov. 13 to certify votes. Ommundsen predicted that if the margins stay this close, courts may need to consider which ballots should be permitted to be counted.
The Nov. 13 certification date serves as the first major checkpoint for the race's final result. Until that date passes, the outcome remains uncertain due to the volume of pending ballots and the lack of a formal recount mechanism in state law.
