OMITTED

What the news leaves out.

← Omitted front page

Mississippi and Alaska Senate Races Remain Too Close to Call

7 sources · updated 2026-11-06
Left 29% Center 43% Right 29%
2 left · 3 center · 2 right

What happened

Two days after Election Day, the U.S. Senate races in Mississippi and Alaska remained uncalled as officials continued processing remaining ballots. In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom led Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 1,833 votes as of Thursday, with 70 of 82 counties having submitted unofficial results; Secretary of State Michael Watson estimated about 3,600 outstanding absentee-by-mail ballots that can be counted if received by November 10 and postmarked on or before Election Day, and counties have until November 13 to submit certified results and process an unknown number of affidavit ballots. Mail-in ballots may be counted after Election Day under a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year in a case involving Mississippi and the Republican National Committee. In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola led incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by 637 votes, with further early, absentee, and overseas ballots to be tabulated through November 18, after which ranked-choice tabulation would apply if neither candidate exceeded 50 percent of the vote.
Sourcing check · Mostly on the record · 7 articles

2 of 4 articles cite a named source for the story. It started with unnamed sources; a named source appeared 1 hour later.

What these terms mean and how they're counted
On the record · names a source 2 of 4
On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, Michael Watson and National Republican Senatorial Committee
Primary evidence · cites a document or data 1 of 4
Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: unofficial results, official update
Credits another outlet 0 of 4
The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
Unnamed sources 0 of 4
The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
How it developed
When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Nov 5, 01:21 UTC by BBC, with no named source. First named source 1 hour later, from OAN. First document 15 hours later, from Daily Wire (unofficial results).
Not counted 3
Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out

Unpacked

Left-leaning coverage never shows that Mississippi's leftover mail ballots outnumber the Democrat's lead, so readers cannot tell whether the remaining count is cleanup or a possible reversal. Right-leaning coverage, in Daily Wire, puts Colom ahead by 1,833 votes. That same account cites 3,600 absentee-by-mail ballots still outstanding, more than the margin. Left-leaning coverage, including the BBC, only reports thousands of provisional ballots still being counted. Left-leaning coverage leads with when a result might arrive and with biography. That coverage notes a Colom win would make him the first Black senator elected in Mississippi since 1875. Right-leaning coverage leads with late mail ballots, Alaska's ranked-choice timeline, and possible legal challenges, and does not mention that first. None of the coverage says in which counties the remaining ballots sit, or which candidate they are likely to help.
Bottom line

A BBC reader never learns Mississippi still has about 3,600 mail ballots outstanding. That comparison to Colom's lead appears only in Daily Wire.

The Left View
Left-leaning coverage framed Mississippi as a “surprisingly tight” contest and stressed that a Colom victory would make him the first Black U.S. senator elected in the state since 1875, with the BBC focusing on how long it could take to finish counting thousands of provisional ballots. The Hill treated both uncalled races as tests of whether Democrats would expand their Senate majority and as among the midterms’ biggest surprises.
The Right View
Right-leaning coverage emphasized that outstanding Mississippi mail ballots outnumbered Colom’s lead and that an “unknown number” of affidavit ballots still had to be processed, some of which Daily Wire said were “likely to be rejected,” citing a 70 to 75 percent historical acceptance rate. OAN highlighted Watson’s remark that thousands of mail-in ballots had still not been received. The National Republican Senatorial Committee told county officials to “separate and secure” affidavit ballots; Hyde-Smith’s campaign said it remained confident that “when every legally cast vote is fully and accurately counted” she would be reelected. On Alaska, Daily Wire reported Sullivan’s campaign arguing that “tens of thousands of votes outstanding,” including ballots cast after a “bombshell New York Times story,” “will benefit Dan” and that ranked-choice voting would produce his reelection, and said legal challenges “could also follow a Sullivan loss” after reports that Democrats recruited a retired teacher named Dan J. Sullivan “in an effort to confuse voters.”
Our Take (balanced)
The left’s strongest argument is that these unexpectedly competitive, still-uncalled contests already rank among the midterms’ biggest surprises and could expand the Democratic Senate majority, including through the historic Mississippi outcome BBC highlighted. The right’s strongest argument, backed by Watson’s outstanding-mail estimate exceeding Colom’s lead, Alaska’s remaining ballots and ranked-choice rules, and the NRSC’s demand that affidavit ballots be separated and secured, is that neither race is decided and that questions about lawful ballots and possible name confusion remain live. The central unresolved tension is whether finishing the count is a routine completion of ballots already cast, or whether post-Election-Day receipts, provisional rejections, ranked-choice transfers, and alleged voter confusion could reverse the current Democratic leads.

7 sources

More stories

The week's bottom lines, in your inbox

One email a week: the five stories that mattered and what they actually mean. Free.