USAupdated 1h ago1 min read
Archive photo · 14 December 2018Mississippi Senate Race Too Close To Call As Scott Colom Leads Cindy Hyde-Smith
“With 96% of votes counted by Wednesday morning, Colom was leading by fewer than 50 votes”
“Mississippi’s Senate race remains too close to call.”
Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Scott Colom leads Cindy Hyde-Smith by a razor-thin margin with about 96% counted. Race remains too close to call with remaining ballots potentially deciding the outcome.
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Mississippi Senate Too Close
Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race remained too close to call as Democrat Scott Colom held a razor-thin lead over incumbent GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith with 97% of the vote counted.
Colom was leading by fewer than 50 votes with about 50,000 ballots still to be counted as the count continued.
Colom led Hyde-Smith by a little more than 2,000 votes, 461,370 to 459,201, as of early Wednesday morning.
Colom led Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by just 43 votes out of nearly a million cast with only a few thousand outstanding provisional ballots yet to be counted.
Campaign Messages and Quotes
Scott Colom campaigned on cost of living and health care issues, and he told the BBC that national Democrats are "conditioned not to care about Mississippi." Colom focused his message on his Christian faith and plans to address economic concerns, while he took aim at Trump's policies including the war in Iran and the rising cost of living in the US.
Colom blasted Hyde-Smith for saying Mississippians should “pick another protein” if they’re upset over high beef prices. Colom told supporters in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday, saying, "The results are all trending in our direction."
What Happens Next
Mississippi does not have automatic recounts for tight races, and the BBC said the state also does not allow candidates to request recounts. Mississippi allows mail-in ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received within five days later, meaning the race could drag on.
Colom’s campaign manager, Gerard Henderson, stated in a video posted to X that at least 15,000 affidavit ballots remained uncounted. Mississippi also has five more business days to receive absentee ballots for the final totals, keeping the outcome unresolved as votes continue to be tallied.