Democrats win US Congress in midterms as Mississippi Senate race remains too close to call
Democrats have taken control of Congress in the US midterm elections, but two Senate seats are still undecided. In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom holds a razor-thin lead over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.
Democrats won the US midterm elections held on Tuesday, taking Congress, but almost 24 hours after voting two Senate seats are still undecided: one in Alaska and one in Mississippi. Counting in Alaska is expected to continue into Thursday.
In Mississippi, a traditionally Republican state, Democrat Scott Colom leads Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by 1,138 votes with almost 96% of ballots counted. Votes for Colom have been outpacing those for Hyde-Smith in recent hours, but no new batches have been reported for several hours. In some states a margin this narrow would automatically trigger a recount, but Mississippi has no law providing for one.
Historical context
Democrats have not won a US Senate seat in Mississippi since 1982, and Donald Trump carried the state by 22 points in 2024. The state last elected a Black person to the Senate in 1875. Colom is a seventh-generation Mississippian. In 2015 he became the first Black district attorney of the 16th circuit, defeating an incumbent of nearly 30 years, and he had a 94% conviction success rate in that role.
Republicans trade blame
Republicans have begun blaming one another for the result. Trump claimed the party fared poorly because he was not on the ballot, after having repeatedly urged voters to behave as though he were. Vice President JD Vance called Trump's ongoing war in Iran the "obvious" cause of the loss. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who leads the war, has been criticized by Republicans including Thomas Massie, although Trump publicly backs him. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said his party failed to focus its advertising spending on issues that motivate voters. According to Associated Press exit polls, voters named the cost of living and government corruption as their top issues.
In California, Democrat Connie Chan has conceded the race for Nancy Pelosi's vacant House seat and congratulated fellow Democrat Scott Wiener. The Associated Press has not yet called the race.
