Mississippi Senate race too close to call

Mississippi's Senate race remained too close to call early Wednesday, with Democratic challenger Scott Colom holding a razor-thin lead over Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) of less than 1 percentage point.

With nearly all ballots counted, Colom led Hyde-Smith by a little more than 2,000 votes — 461,370 to 459,201 — as of early Wednesday morning, according to Decision Desk HQ .

The contest has put the reliably red state in the national spotlight as Democrats celebrate massive victories in Tuesday's midterm elections, winning control of both chambers of Congress and flipping several Republican-held Senate seats.

A victory for Colom, a district attorney in the Magnolia State, would mark the eighth Senate seat Democrats have flipped this election cycle and a stunning political shift in Mississippi, which President Trump won by more than 20 percentage points in 2024.

The race drew increasing attention in the closing days of the campaign as Democrats saw an opportunity to unseat Hyde-Smith, who was widely viewed as weak on the campaign trail, despite the state's strong GOP lean.

Colom's showing in the contest comes amid a wave of blue victories in states considered to be Republican strongholds, including Kansas , where Adam Hamilton defeated Sen. Roger Marshall (R), and South Carolina , where Annie Andrews ousted Sen. Darline Graham (R).

In Texas, Democrat James Talarico defeated Trump-backed state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), delivering the party its first Senate victory in the Lone Star State in nearly four decades.

Mississippi has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982, when former Sen. John Stennis won his final term.