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Mississippi's Senate Race Makes a Safe Seat Wait for the Mail
· New York time
Mississippi's Senate race remained unresolved in the reported count, with Democrat Scott Colom holding a slim lead over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith. The close contest surprised observers in a state where Republicans have generally enjoyed a strong advantage. Colom's lead had grown to nearly 2,500 votes in one reported update, and mail-in ballots received after Election Day could help determine the outcome. The Supreme Court upheld the legality of those ballots. That leaves a race with both a narrow margin and an administrative timetable: the political speeches can be ready before the count is. A competitive Democratic challenge is significant in a state often treated as a dependable part of the Republican map. It does not, however, turn an incomplete count into a final result. Both campaigns must wait for the ballots to be processed rather than rely on the color assigned to the state in advance. The familiar map offers partisans a comforting picture, but it is not itself an election official. Mississippi's voters have supplied a less convenient document, a pile of actual ballots, and each side will have to live with the arithmetic. Even the safest-looking seat has to wait until the mail has had its say.
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