US midterms: Mississippi and Alaska Senate races still hang on a handful of votes
· BehindLines newsroom
The morning after the US midterm elections, two Senate seats were still undecided on Wednesday, November 4: Mississippi and Alaska.
According to AFP, Democrats took control of both houses of Congress and flipped seven Senate seats, including in states seen as safe for Republicans. The agency gives no final Senate total. Al Jazeera describes a strong Democratic showing while stressing that several races remain too close to call.
In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom led Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by fewer than 50 votes (43 according to Al Jazeera) with 96 percent of ballots counted, according to CNN and NBC as cited by AFP. Thousands of ballots whose eligibility must be checked remain uncounted, and the result could take days. If he wins, Mr. Colom would be Mississippi's first Democrat in the Senate since 1982.
In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola led Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan 48.2 percent to 47.9 percent, a gap of 626 votes, with 74 percent of the vote counted. Ranked-choice voting could apply if no candidate reaches 50 percent, and a declaration could take weeks. According to AFP, a New York Times investigation reports that aides to Ms. Peltola recruited another man named Dan Sullivan to run; he had 3,583 votes, more than the gap. Ms. Peltola denies any knowledge.
Al Jazeera lists other tight contests: the Kansas governor's race (a 5,557-vote margin, 98 percent counted), Alaska's governor's race and the Los Angeles mayoralty. Still unknown are the final results in Mississippi and Alaska, the final makeup of the Senate, and any consequences of the second Dan Sullivan affair.