Mississippi and Alaska Senate Races Still Uncalled Two Days Out

Two Senate contests from Tuesday’s midterm elections had no declared winner on Thursday, Nov. 5, and both are tight. In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom was narrowly ahead of Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan were separated by about 600 votes, NBC News reported, and CBS News also called it unresolved. Democrats had already clinched control of the chamber, so the pair of races will decide only the size of the majority.

In Mississippi, ABC News reported Colom led by 1,138 votes, 464,926 to 463,788, with about 96 percent of the expected vote counted; independent Ty Pinkins had about 2 percent. Later in the day ABC’s live page said nearly 2,000 votes separated the two, and NBC’s live coverage put the margin near 1,700 with roughly 20,000 ballots left, a figure it attributed to the state Republican Party. NBC’s results page showed Colom at 49.0 percent and Hyde-Smith at 48.9 percent. The exact count differs by outlet and is changing, which is why neither CBS nor NBC has called it.

What happens next is set by Mississippi law, according to ABC. The state has no formal recount process: a candidate cannot request one and none is triggered automatically. Mail ballots had to be postmarked by Election Day and can arrive up to five business days later, through Nov. 10, and ABC said the secretary of state estimated about 3,600 were still outstanding on Wednesday afternoon. Affidavit ballots, cast when a voter’s address is not found in the poll book, are also counted, though ABC said the number is unknown. Counties have until Nov. 13 to certify, the deadline ABC gave. Colom’s campaign estimated about 15,000 such ballots; the state office has no firm figure.

ABC also reported that Hyde-Smith’s campaign said it remains confident she will win, and that Pinkins, the third-place candidate, rejected the idea that he cost Colom the race. If the lead holds, Colom would be the first Democrat that Mississippi has sent to the Senate since 1982, ABC said, and the state’s first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction. Donald Trump won Mississippi with 61 percent in 2024, ABC noted.

Alaska may take far longer. NBC News showed Peltola at 48.2 percent and Sullivan at 47.9 percent with about 74 percent of the vote reported, and its live coverage said mail ballots can arrive up to 15 days after Election Day, so a winner could be days or weeks away. CBS and CNBC both described the race as a toss-up. If no candidate clears 50 percent, Alaska’s ranked-choice tabulation applies, according to NBC and CBS. On Truth Social, Trump wrote that Sullivan should receive votes cast for other candidates, CBS reported; NBC quoted him saying there is ‘no other fair solution.’

Neither result affects control. NBC projects a Democratic Senate of 54 seats to 44 for Republicans with these two races open, and CBS and CNBC each say Democrats have at least 54. A win in either would push the Democratic total higher.