Not Yet Called: Mississippi and Alaska Senate Seats, Boebert's Colorado District and Two Governor's Races

Democrat Scott Colom led Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 2,493 votes Friday with thousands of affidavit ballots uncounted; in Alaska, Mary Peltola led Sen. Dan Sullivan by 637.

Four days after the polls closed, several of the year's most-watched contests remained too close to call on Friday. None of the races below had been called by the Associated Press as of Friday evening. Every number here is the latest reported count, not a result, and each one can still change.

Mississippi Senate: not yet called

Democrat Scott Colom, a district attorney, led Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 2,493 votes as of 10:20 p.m. UTC Friday (4:20 p.m. Central), according to Yahoo News' live tracking of the AP count. That lead has grown since election night: at 2:56 a.m. ET Wednesday, with 96% of the vote counted, Newsweek reported Colom ahead by just 28 votes. An earlier AP count had Colom at 49% to Hyde-Smith's 48.9%, a 1,813-vote gap.

Mississippi's Secretary of State said Thursday that 12,000 to 20,000 affidavit ballots still needed to be reviewed and counted, according to Yahoo News. Counties have a 10-day window to certify. Mississippi Today reported both campaigns are preparing for a legal fight, and The Hill reported the National Republican Senatorial Committee has demanded election officials preserve the affidavit ballots.

Alaska Senate: not yet called

Former Rep. Mary Peltola (D) led Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) by 637 votes as of Friday afternoon, with more than 200,000 ballots cast, according to Yahoo News. Officials expect the next batches of mail ballots on Monday and Tuesday. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting: if no candidate finishes with more than 50%, lower-placed candidates are eliminated and their voters' next choices are counted. A New York Times analysis cited by Yahoo expects Peltola's lead to grow but says she may not clear the 50% mark outright.

If Democrats win both seats, they would hold 56 seats in the next Senate; if Republicans hold both, the split would be 54–46.

Colorado's 4th District: not yet called

Democrat Laubacher led Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert by more than 3,000 votes Friday with about 4% of the vote left to count, according to Yahoo News. Colorado counties have until Nov. 13 to finish counting. The margin is too large to trigger an automatic recount.

Governors: Kansas and Alaska not yet called

In Kansas, Democrat Holscher led Republican Masterson 50.3% to 49.7% with 99% of the vote counted, as of early Friday. Kansas's governorship is currently held by a Democrat.

In Alaska, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins had 49.1% and Republican Bernadette Wilson 29.2% with 74% of the vote counted, as of early Friday, according to Yahoo News. Newsweek also listed both governor's races as uncalled on Thursday. (One results tracker, MultiState, lists Alaska as a Democratic win; we have not confirmed an AP call and are treating it as not yet called.)

The House

Twenty House races remained uncalled as of 4:45 p.m. ET Friday, according to Yahoo News' AP tally, which showed Democrats with 253 seats and Republicans with 162. Control of the chamber is not in doubt.

Why it matters

Close races are when trust in elections is won or lost. Every lawful ballot, including affidavit ballots cast by voters whose eligibility must be checked, deserves to be reviewed under the law, and every candidate has the right to observers and to the recount and contest procedures the law provides. The right posture for Christians on both sides is patience, prayer and insistence on the rules, not rumor. We will report these races as they are called.

← Back to Washington & Politics · Browse the Archive →