Two Senate Races Still Uncalled: Alaska by 626 Votes, Mississippi by 1,138

The midterm map is settled almost everywhere — except in two Senate races that will set the final size of the Democratic majority.

In Alaska, the Associated Press still has the race too early to call: Democrat Mary Peltola leads Republican Senator Dan Sullivan by just 626 votes, with about 74% of ballots counted. Neither candidate has a majority of first-choice votes, and Alaska’s ranked-choice tabulation is scheduled for November 18, after overseas ballots — which can arrive up to 15 days after Election Day if postmarked by November 3 — are received and reviewed.

In Mississippi, Democratic challenger Scott Colom leads Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by 1,138 votes — 464,926 to 463,788, with an estimated 96% of votes counted. Roughly 3,600 absentee-by-mail ballots can still be counted if they arrive within five business days of Election Day, and voters who cast affidavit ballots for lack of photo ID have until November 10 to show that ID. Counties must certify their results by November 13. Mississippi has no automatic recount in a contest this close, so a candidate seeking one would need a court order.

The stakes are historic either way: Mississippi has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since John Stennis won in 1982, and Colom would become the first Black senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction if his lead holds. Nationally, Democrats are projected to open the new Congress with at least 54 Senate seats; winning both remaining races would lift that to 56 — a cushion that matters for confirmations, committee margins, and every close vote of the next two years.

The conservative take: Close counts deserve slow counts. A 626-vote margin in Alaska and a 1,138-vote margin in Mississippi are exactly the cases where demanding every lawful ballot be counted — and no unlawful one — is the conservative position, whichever way the final tally lands. Patience here is not weakness; it is how a result nobody can fairly challenge is built.