Democrat Scott Colom led Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 43 votes in Mississippi early Wednesday, one of two Republican-held Senate seats still undecided. In Alaska, Sen. Dan Sullivan held a narrow lead over Democrat Mary Peltola that will be settled by ranked-choice tabulation on Nov. 18.
Mississippi
In results reported early Wednesday, Colom had 462,821 votes and Hyde-Smith had 462,778, each about 48.9 percent, with 97 percent of precincts in, according to the Magnolia Tribune. Independent Ty Pinkins drew about 20,000 votes, or 2.1 percent.
Colom’s campaign manager, Gerard Henderson, said in a video on X that at least 15,000 affidavit ballots remained uncounted. Those are provisional ballots cast when a voter’s eligibility is in question or a voter lacks acceptable photo ID or goes to the wrong precinct. Counting them could take up to five business days.
Mississippi has no runoff in federal general elections, so the candidate with the most votes wins. The state has no automatic recount and does not let candidates request one. A recount can be held only on a judge’s order.
Hyde-Smith ran well behind the rest of her party. Republican Reps. Trent Kelly, Michael Guest and Mike Ezell each won by more than 15 points. Hyde-Smith won 710,000 votes in 2020; on Tuesday she had just under 463,000.
Colom, a Columbus district attorney, was backed by nearly $16 million in out-of-state PAC spending and by campaign visits from Bill Clinton and Kamala Harris, the Magnolia Tribune reported. Hyde-Smith blocked his nomination to a federal judgeship in 2023.
Alaska
In results posted after midnight, with about 211,000 ballots counted, Sullivan had 101,285 votes, or 48.1 percent, to Peltola’s 100,311, or 47.7 percent, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Many rural precincts expected to favor Peltola had not reported. Because no one cleared 50 percent, second choices will be counted Nov. 18. Certification is set for Nov. 25.
Fourth place went to Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg with nearly the same name as the senator, who drew 3,498 votes, or 1.7 percent. Last week the Justice Department asked a federal judge to set aside his ballots, as reported here Oct. 31. Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the suit Sunday without a hearing, ruling that it lacked a legal foundation and could threaten ballot secrecy. The department says it will appeal. The FBI and Alaska state investigators are looking into reports that Democratic operatives recruited the namesake candidate. Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee deny any role.
Third-place Republican Gerald Heikes, at 2.2 percent, was boosted by more than $2 million in ads, partly funded by the progressive Sixteen Thirty Fund.
“It’s a little depressing out there, but we don’t think that ‘blue wave’ is going to crest up in Alaska,” Sullivan told supporters. He said he will accept the result “once every legal vote is counted and certified.” Peltola has called the investigations a sham.
The bottom line
Both races deserve close scrutiny. In Mississippi, a seat could turn on provisional ballots, many cast by voters whose eligibility or ID was in question at the polls. Each one should be checked against the law before it is counted, with observers from both parties in the room.
In Alaska, a left-wing group spent money propping up a fringe Republican, and a man with the senator’s name ended up on the ballot amid reports that Democratic operatives recruited him. Voters deserve answers from the investigators before the Nov. 25 certification, and the appeal should be heard quickly.
Neither seat changes control of the Senate, but both states should count every legal ballot with care.