Business & Finance

Mississippi Senate race stays close as Colom leads Hyde-Smith narrowly

Colom led by about 2,500 ballots in the latest tally, with roughly 15,500 affidavit ballots processed by Tuesday morning.

Published Nov 12, 2026 · 19:39 UTC2 reports

The short version

Democrat Scott Colom holds a narrow lead over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's Senate race.[CNBC · BBC News]
State officials estimate 12,000 to 20,000 affidavit ballots were cast, and about 15,500 had been processed by Tuesday morning.[BBC News]
Both parties have sent teams of lawyers, raising the possibility of legal challenges to the result.[BBC News]

Colom led Hyde-Smith by about 2,500 ballots, less than 1%, in the latest tally.[BBC News]
Colom led Hyde-Smith by 2,607 votes out of 953,547 counted, with an estimated 97% of votes in, according to the Associated Press.[CNBC]
State officials estimate between 12,000 and 20,000 affidavit ballots were cast.[BBC News]
As of Tuesday morning, roughly 15,500 affidavit ballots had been processed.[BBC News]
Independent candidate Ty Pinkins had 20,034 votes.[CNBC]
Each party has sent teams of lawyers into Mississippi, raising the possibility of legal challenges over the result.[BBC News]

The result is not final, and the BBC reports the processed affidavit ballots could be enough to swing the race.[BBC News]
Legal challenges are only a possibility in the reporting; no filed challenge is described.[BBC News]

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.