'Another upset might be brewing': Deep red Mississippi Senate race suddenly a toss-up

A political analyst spotted signs of another Democratic upset brewing in the 2026 midterm elections.

Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times, said Democrats could flip Mississippi’s Senate seat, with Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith locked in a tight race against Democrat Scott Colom.

“Another upset might be brewing in Mississippi, where Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican, holds only a narrow lead over Scott Colom, a Democrat, with about half of the vote counted,” Cohn reported. “The race is now considered a toss-up, according to our estimates, with a disproportionate number of votes left to be counted from the Mississippi Delta, the state’s most heavily Black and Democratic region.”

That outstanding vote could favor Colom as the count continues.

Democrats have flipped multiple House and Senate seats Tuesday night, according to projections. In one of the biggest upsets, Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Republican Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina, NBC News and Decision Desk HQ projected. Democrat Roy Cooper also flipped North Carolina’s open Senate seat, which retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is vacating.