Democrat Scott Colom leads Mississippi’s Senate race by just 1,138 votes

A Democrat is leading the Senate race in deep red Mississippi by just over 1,000 votes. And with ballots still being counted, this one is far from over. Democrat Scott Colome is holding a narrow lead over Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. A race that wasn't expected to be this close is now one of the last undecided contests of the midterms. And the stakes are big. Mississippi hasn't elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1982. A Cologne victory would also make him the state's first black senator since Reconstruction. Hyde-Smith had President Trump's endorsement, but in a state Trump won by more than 20 points just two years ago, that hasn't been enough to put her over the top. Now comes the wait. Election officials are still counting provisional ballots and mail-in votes, and some mail ballots can still arrive through November 10th, as long as they were postmarked by Election Day. Here's where things get interesting. Mississippi has no automatic recount, and candidates can't simply request one. They can examine ballot materials and challenge results in court, but for now, Colome says he's confident. I've got to tell everybody I am very happy with where we stand. I'm confident. I'm confident once the process lays out where we are, where the ballots are, we're going to win. The bottom line is this is the beginning of a new direction for our state. We are going to win this. We have already showed the country that Mississippi matters, y'all. And both sides are preparing for a possible legal fight. Democrats have sent legal support to Mississippi, and Colome says his campaign has what he calls an army of lawyers ready to protect the vote.