From her perch in neighboring Alabama, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance laid out the case that Democrat Scott Colom will soon be declared Mississippi’s next U.S. senator.
On Wednesday afternoon, Vance shared a Bluesky post from Mississippi Today reporting that Hinds County, the state’s most populous county and a Democratic stronghold, is on pace to finish its Senate count soon, results that “could cement the outcome” of the race.
Vance then cited figures showing that about 76% of Hinds County voters back Democrats, compared with 24% for Republicans.
“This won’t break for [Republican Sen. Cindy] Hyde-Smith,” Vance wrote. “This race is over.”
The numbers simply aren't moving the Republican incumbent's way. As of Wednesday morning, Colom led the incumbent by just over 3,000 votes with about 98% of the vote counted, according to CBS News, which rated the race as leaning Democratic. His lead has steadily grown since election night, from roughly 2,500 votes last week to about 2,800 on Monday.
The race remains uncalled as Hinds County works through its final absentee, mail-in and affidavit ballots ahead of the state’s certification deadline later this week. Statewide, about a quarter of affidavit ballots have been rejected, according to WLBT, for reasons including voters casting ballots at the wrong precinct or not being registered.
Tensions have flared over the count. On Monday, a lawyer observing for Hyde-Smith and the National Republican Senatorial Committee loudly accused a Hinds County election commissioner of discussing ballots out of view, prompting her to shut down work for the night, Democracy Docket reported. Mississippi has no automatic recount law.
A Colom win would hand Democrats yet another Senate seat in deep-red territory, adding to a midterm wave that already flipped seats in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, Kansas and South Carolina.