Democrat Scott Colom was within striking distance Wednesday of pulling off an historic upset in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race between him and Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, but the race remained too close to call.

As Mississippians woke up Wednesday morning and the nation turned its attention to the Magnolia State, a razor-thin margin separated Colom, a Democratic district attorney in north Mississippi, and Hyde-Smith. As of 3 p.m., Colom led by 65 votes in incomplete and unofficial results.

A legal fight is likely. Ballots remained uncounted in Hinds County, the most populous area of the state and a Democratic stronghold and in counties along the Coast where Hyde-Smith has maintained an edge. Thousands of affidavit and mail-in ballots also remain to be counted.

The midterm race saw a massive turnout, with nearly 1 million people voting, rivaling presidential election turnout in Mississippi.

Colom addressed reporters at his campaign headquarters on Wednesday morning, saying that he has a clear path to victory.

“I’m very happy with where we stand,” Colom said. “I’m confident once the process lays out where the ballots are, we’re going to win, because the people of Mississippi turned out in historic numbers to make this race possible.”

Colom said his campaign had deployed attorneys across the state to monitor local election officials counting the remaining ballots and processing affidavit and absentee ballots that could arrive over the next week.

“We will protect the process of this election,” Colom said. “We will protect the integrity of this election.”

At a watch party on Tuesday evening, Hyde-Smith all but declared victory.

“I assure you I will continue to be your U.S. senator,” she said.

That was before Colom took the lead.

By late morning on Wednesday, shortly after Colom addressed reporters, Hyde-Smith’s campaign manager, Jake Monssen, issued a statement thanking supporters and pointing out that thousands of ballots remained uncounted.

“With the vast majority of Election Day ballots reported, the margin is measured in just dozens of votes,” Monssen said. “We have thousands of outstanding ballots, including affidavit and absentee ballots, which still must be processed and verified under Mississippi law. Our campaign is closely monitoring the remaining count. We remain confident that when every legally cast vote is fully and accurately counted, Mississippians will have reelected Cindy Hyde-Smith.”

It appeared many groups are gearing up for a fight.

On Tuesday night, the state Democratic Party filed a court challenge claiming several precincts in DeSoto County had problems, including delayed openings, “extraordinary waiting periods” and a shortage of regular ballots and affidavit ballots. The party withdrew the complaint Wednesday.

LIVE: 2026 Mississippi election results

Kelcy Higgins, a Mississippi-based political operative and community organizer and director of the Magnolia Project, called for volunteers to help with Election Day fallout.

“The work of the 2026 election is not over,” Higgins said. “Affidavit ballots remain to be reviewed and counted across Mississippi’s precincts, and we must ensure that every eligible vote is properly counted. Mississippi needs election protection volunteers now to help protect the process and make sure every eligible vote is counted and no voter’s voice is left out.”

Colom, a district attorney in northern Mississippi, would be the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from the state since John Stennis in 1982. He would be the first Black person elected to the U.S. Senate from Mississippi since Reconstruction, when the state Legislature elected Hiram Revels in 1870 and Blanche Bruce in 1875.

Hyde-Smith is the first woman to be elected to federal office in Mississippi.

Most forecasters had rated the Mississippi Senate race as safely Republican. But on the issues defining the midterms in Mississippi and beyond, voters left little doubt it would be a referendum on President Donald Trump — on soaring consumer prices exacerbated by tariffs and his war with Iran.

Colom has campaigned hard, crisscrossing the state and receiving help from the national party.

Dan Pffeifer, a political commentator and former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, said Colom “has run a campaign that is a model for Dems trying to flip very red states.”

Hyde-Smith, a Brookhaven cattle farmer, was first appointed to the Senate in early 2018 to replace longtime Republican Sen. Thad Cochran. She won two races against former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, in a special election in late 2018 and a regular election in 2020. Early in this race, she appeared confident she would gain a third victory, in part from the continued endorsement of Trump. 

Hyde-Smith’s main campaign message was to label Colom an extremist, and the “most radical Senate candidate of our lifetime.” She attempted to label him as a puppet of far-left national Democrats, with a spokesman calling him a stooge of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and to billionaire donor George Soros.

Update, 11/4/2026: This article has been updated to show results as of 3 p.m., which remain incomplete and unofficial. It has also been updated to show that the state Democratic Party withdrew its complaint in DeSoto County.