Mississippi cliffhanger, Alaska count continues in US Senate races

Washington: A cliffhanger in deeply conservative Mississippi and an Alaska race that had drawn accusations of cheating were two US Senate races yet to be called on Wednesday, a day after Democrats stormed to victory in polls across the country.

In the Deep South state, Democratic candidate Scott Colom was ahead by less than 50 votes over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith, according to CNN and NBC, with 96 percent of ballots counted.

Colom would be the first Democrat elected to the US Senate from Mississippi since 1982.


In a state that President Donald Trump won by 24 points in 2024, a win by Colom would mark the eighth Senate seat flipped by Democrats in the midterm elections.

"Voters know what's at stake and we saw historic voter turnout in this election across Mississippi, including thousands voting for the first time," Colom said on his campaign Facebook page early Wednesday.

Mississippi has long been overlooked by national Democrats but the Senate race attracted attention from party heavyweights late in the race, with Bill Clinton rallying voters in Tupelo and Barack Obama issuing an endorsement.

Colom would also be the first Black Mississippian to serve in the chamber since Blanche Bruce, who had been born into slavery and was sent to Washington by the state legislature in 1875.

The result of the race was not expected for days, with local media reporting that there were thousands of uncounted ballots from people whose voter eligibility needed to be checked.

In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola was ahead of Republican Dan Sullivan 48.2 percent to 47.9 percent, with 74 percent of votes counted.

The race had attracted national attention following a New York Times investigation revealing that aides to Peltola had recruited another man named Dan Sullivan to run for office with the goal of siphoning votes from the Republican incumbent.

"My opponent's campaign is literally focused on misleading Alaskans, lying, and cheating," Senator Sullivan told reporters in Anchorage on Election Day.

Peltola has denied any knowledge of the decoy candidate plot.

The result of the contest may not be declared for weeks, with Alaska employing a ranked-choice system and thousands of absentee and early votes still uncounted.