Midterm Stalemate: Two Senate Races Hover on Hairline Leads

The U.S. Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi remain undecided days after voters cast their ballots in the 2026 midterms. Both states are separated by margins so small that the final outcomes depend on the remaining uncounted votes and ongoing legal reviews.

In Mississippi, Democratic challenger Scott Colom leads incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by 464,926 votes to 463,788. The Associated Press reported that 95.6% of the state’s total votes had been counted as of Thursday morning. Secretary of State Michael Watson stated that officials are still waiting to receive a batch of 3,600 mail-in ballots. State law allows these ballots to be counted if they arrive within five business days of the election, provided they were postmarked on or before Election Day. NBC News' Decision Desk estimated that 45,000 ballots remain to be tallied in the state.

Mississippi does not have a formal recount process, which has increased the likelihood of a legal challenge. Colom told reporters on Wednesday that his team is preparing for a court battle, describing his legal team as an army of lawyers. Hyde-Smith’s campaign manager, Scott Monssen, said the campaign is closely monitoring the remaining count. Monssen expressed confidence that the incumbent would prevail once every legally cast vote is fully and accurately counted.

The Alaska contest is complicated by the presence of two candidates named Dan Sullivan on the ballot. Former Democratic Representative Mary Peltola holds a lead of fewer than 700 votes over incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. Approximately one-quarter of the state’s ballots are still uncounted. The second candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, is a retired schoolteacher who entered the race in May. A July investigation by the Justice Department and an October report by The New York Times indicated that Democratic operatives and Peltola’s staff encouraged him to run. Peltola has denied involvement in the effort.

As of Thursday morning, Daniel J. Sullivan, who has been referred to as Decoy Dan, had collected 3,600 votes. This total is more than five times the 637-vote margin currently separating Senator Sullivan and Peltola. Alaska uses a ranked choice voting system where the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated if no one reaches 50% of the share, and those ballots are redirected to the voter’s second choice.

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday demanding that votes cast for the other Dan Sullivan be immediately awarded to the incumbent. Trump wrote that this move would end the election and hand Senator Sullivan an easy victory, calling it the only fair solution. One voter in Alaska said he believed he accidentally voted for the wrong candidate because he did not remember seeing two Dan Sullivans on the ballot.