Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom speaks to the audience at the 23rd annual Beans and Greens Dinner in Greenwood, Mississippi, October 8, 2026. MFP photo by Kevin Edwards” data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Scott-Colom-Beans-and-Greens-10-8-2026_cred-Kevin-Edwards.jpg?fit=780%2C519&ssl=1″ alt=”Scott Colom speaking at a podium with a sign reading ’23rd edition of beans and green vegetables'” class=”wp-image-363441″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Scott-Colom-Beans-and-Greens-10-8-2026_cred-Kevin-Edwards.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Scott-Colom-Beans-and-Greens-10-8-2026_cred-Kevin-Edwards.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Scott-Colom-Beans-and-Greens-10-8-2026_cred-Kevin-Edwards.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Scott-Colom-Beans-and-Greens-10-8-2026_cred-Kevin-Edwards.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Scott-Colom-Beans-and-Greens-10-8-2026_cred-Kevin-Edwards.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Scott-Colom-Beans-and-Greens-10-8-2026_cred-Kevin-Edwards.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Scott-Colom-Beans-and-Greens-10-8-2026_cred-Kevin-Edwards.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Scott-Colom-Beans-and-Greens-10-8-2026_cred-Kevin-Edwards.jpg?w=2000&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Scott-Colom-Beans-and-Greens-10-8-2026_cred-Kevin-Edwards-1024×682.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w” size=”(max width: 780px) 100vw, 780px”/>
Democrat Scott Colom’s lead over Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith has widened further as opportunities to make up lost ground continue to shift away from the incumbent.
As of 5 p.m. Friday afternoon, Colom was ahead of Hyde-Smith by 2,574 votes out of more than 950,000 votes cast statewide, the Associated Press reported. Thousands of votes remain, but most are expected to be affidavit ballots that could take counties until the end of next week to complete the count. Hyde-Smith would need a significant number of those affidavit ballots to force her way to victory, but so far Colom has consistently outperformed her overall margins in affidavit ballots, helping her pull further away in the vote count.
Observers expect thousands of remaining affidavit votes will come from Hinds County, a majority-black county where Colom leads the overall total 79 percent to 19 percent. Hinds County officials are still counting affidavit ballots and have not yet released numbers.
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