10
Loading video...
By Anna Skinner
Associate News Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Mississippi counties must certify and submit their election results by Friday, a key deadline to the still-undecided Senate race between Democrat Scott Colom and Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.
Ballots are still being tallied in Mississippi nearly a week after the midterm elections that saw a blue wave sweep congressional, gubernatorial and statewide races across the country. Democrats won control of the U.S. Senate and House, with several surprising flips in traditionally Republican states contributing to the result, such as Democrat James Talarico winning Texas’ U.S. Senate seat, and Democrat Annie Andrews winning South Carolina’s. However, several key Senate races remain undecided, including in Alaska and Mississippi.
As of Monday morning, just over 97 percent of the votes have been tallied. Colom has 49.1 percent of the vote compared to Hyde-Smith’s 48.8 percent, with a little over 2,500 votes separating the two. The close race is unusual for Mississippi, which hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since 1982, when John Stennis was reelected. It's been much longer since Mississippi elected a Black senator, last doing so with Blanche Bruce, who served in the Senate from 1875 to 1881.
Read More on U.S.
Newsweek reached out to the campaigns for Colom and Hyde-Smith by email for comment on Monday morning.
...
When Will Mississippi Senate Race Be Called?
Mississippi counties have until November 13 to submit their certified election results to the secretary of state's office, meaning the full vote tally should become clear by then, although the Senate race could be called sooner.
“The race is likely to be called by AP and others by Friday,” John Geer, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University, told Newsweek on Monday, adding that Colom is in a strong position. “Hyde-Smith will have to decide to pursue a formal legal challenge or just concede.”
Last week, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson issued an update alerting people that the results could still be days away, as counties have 10 days from Election Day to submit certified results to his office.
In addition to Friday's deadline, voters who cast affidavit or provisional ballots because of identification issues have until Tuesday, November 10, to resolve those issues for their ballots to be counted. Mail-in ballots also can arrive up to five business days after Election Day but must be postmarked on or before Election Day to count.
"Those ballots are legit, according to Mississippi law," Mark O'Gorman, a professor of political science and environmental studies at Maryville College in eastern Tennessee, told Newsweek on Monday. "So that alone is creating at least part of the slowness."
Related Story
Newsweek Webinar: How the Politics of AI Could Shape Midterms
Mississippi Senate Race: Will There Be a Recount?
Whereas narrow margins in other states can trigger automatic recounts or allow candidates to request one, Mississippi has no such recount procedure. A candidate could instead investigate potential voting irregularities and use that evidence to challenge the inclusion or exclusion of ballots in court. Because state law does not provide a specific process for contesting the race, the dispute could ultimately reach the U.S. Senate, which has constitutional authority to judge the elections and returns of its own members.
“The rules in the state do not provide for a recount,” Geer said. “It would likely be an uphill legal battle. With that said, the counties still need to count all the votes so the state can certify the outcome.”
There's a possibility the losing candidate will pursue a recount, but “very narrow results” would need to precede that, O'Gorman said, adding that “it would have to be double digits or low triple digits."
However, if a losing candidate does contest the results, it might not be the “wisest” choice politically, O’Gorman said, as it could aggravate the voter base and affect the candidate’s chances should they run again in the future.
What Have Scott Colom, Cindy Hyde-Smith Said?
Both candidates remain determined and confident that they will win the election.
“Mississippi deserves a seat at the table. And I'm ready to make sure our voices are heard in the U.S. Senate,” Colom’s campaign posted to X on Sunday.
In a Friday X post, Hyde-Smith’s campaign stressed that she was “not backing down.”
“This election is not over. Our team is working across Mississippi to monitor the remaining ballots and protect the integrity of the process,” the post read. “We will see this through to the very end!”
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Anna Skinner and Anthony Murray.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines