Democrats retake Senate as Mississippi and Alaska races stay too close to call

Mississippi count stays razor thin

With about 96% of the vote counted, Democrat Scott Colom led Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by 43 votes, 462,821 to 462,778, according to CNN figures cited by HotNews. POLITICO reported that both candidates had 48.9% of the vote with more than 900,000 ballots cast, and the Washington Post described the race as essentially tied at 97% counted. An earlier update at that level had Colom 28 votes ahead, so the gap has moved between counts. The Associated Press has not called the race.

Scott Colom (D)462,821

Cindy Hyde-Smith (R)462,778

Scott Colom (D)

462821 votes

Cindy Hyde-Smith (R)

462778 votes

Data from the article text

Mississippi allows mail-in ballots postmarked by 3 November and received within five days of the election to be counted. Provisional ballots can be counted for up to five business days after Election Day. A representative of the Colom campaign told CNN that more than 10,000 affidavit ballots had not yet been counted, an estimate the campaign made. Officials in Hinds County announced shortly after midnight that the count would pause for the night, according to local media cited by N-tv, which pushed the full tally to the morning.

No automatic recount, and no runoff

Mississippi has no mechanism for automatic recounts. HotNews reported that a recount there can only be ordered by a court, while POLITICO noted it remained unclear whether or how a recount could be started. Because a plurality is enough to win, the state holds no runoff. Independent candidate Ty Pinkins took 2.1% of the vote, and at the 97% count about 19,934 ballots had gone to him, which could decide the outcome. Pinkins rejected calls to withdraw and told Mississippi Public Broadcasting he doubted a Democrat could win statewide.

Hyde-Smith said she expected to continue as the state's senator, and she had led for most of election night. Donald Trump carried Mississippi by roughly 23 points in 2024 and appeared alongside Hyde-Smith in northern Mississippi the previous week. Hyde-Smith blocked Colom's nomination as a federal judge in 2023. If Colom wins, he would be the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Mississippi since 1982 and the first Black senator from the state since Reconstruction.

Alaska count and ranked-choice rules

With 74% of the vote counted, Peltola had 102,701 votes (48.2%) to Sullivan's 102,075 (47.9%), according to HotNews. POLITICO put the margin at several hundred votes as of Wednesday morning, with a final result possibly weeks away. Alaska accepts absentee ballots up to 15 days after Election Day. If no candidate reaches 50% in the first round, ranked-choice counting decides the winner, with the last-placed candidate eliminated and their ballots reallocated to the next choice. The state will not begin tabulating voter preferences for two weeks, so the winner may not be known until around Thanksgiving.

Mary Peltola (D)102,701

Dan Sullivan (R)102,075

Mary Peltola (D)

102701 votes

Dan Sullivan (R)

102075 votes

Data from the article text

Senate and House context

Of the 35 Senate seats up for grabs, Democrats had won 54 seats in total and Republicans 44, with the Mississippi and Alaska races still open, according to HotNews. In the House, all 435 seats were contested, and Democrats had won 228 so far, well above the 218 needed for a majority. Democrats took 25 of those seats from Republicans, and 68 House races remained unconfirmed.

Democrats54

Republicans44

Democrats

54 seats

Republicans

44 seats

Data from the article text