Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s campaign is expressing confidence that she will retain her Mississippi Senate seat despite trailing Democratic challenger Scott Colom in the preliminary election results. In a statement posted Thursday, the campaign argued that thousands of outstanding ballots from dozens of Republican counties could reinforce Hyde-Smith’s path to victory and accused Democrats of preparing for a legal battle over the final count.

“Cindy Hyde-Smith is going to represent Mississippi in the United States Senate for the next six years,” the statement declared. “We believe thousands of votes remain to be counted from dozens of Republican counties, and we are confident those votes will reinforce her path to victory.”

The campaign emphasized that election officials must be allowed to complete the normal ballot-counting process, including the review of absentee and affidavit ballots. It also warned that Democratic attorneys could challenge the outcome, saying the Republican campaign was prepared to respond.

The race remains uncalled, with Colom holding a narrow lead as election officials continue processing outstanding ballots. The Associated Press reported Thursday that Colom led Hyde-Smith by 1,145 votes with approximately 96% of ballots counted. Several thousand provisional ballots are still expected to be reviewed, and Mississippi officials have until November 10 to resolve the outstanding ballots.

The remaining vote includes absentee ballots and affidavit ballots, Mississippi’s version of provisional ballots. These ballots are set aside when election officials cannot immediately confirm a voter's eligibility and are counted only after the required verification process. Secretary of State Michael Watson has said approximately 3,600 outstanding mail-in absentee ballots could be processed, while estimates of the affidavit ballots remaining statewide have ranged from 14,000 to 18,000.

The Hyde-Smith campaign's confidence rests partly on votes still outstanding in counties where the Republican performed well. However, uncounted ballots are also concentrated in Hinds County, a Democratic stronghold, meaning the final outcome will depend on the geographic distribution and party preferences of the ballots that are ultimately accepted.

Both campaigns have been closely monitoring the count and preparing for potential legal disputes. The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent a letter Thursday to Mississippi county election officials demanding that affidavit ballots and related records be separated, secured and preserved throughout the counting and certification process. Hyde-Smith's legal team has also sent a similar request to county election commissioners and circuit clerks.

Democratic attorneys have also mobilized across the state to monitor the process on behalf of Colom. His campaign has expressed confidence that the outstanding ballots will ultimately give him the victory. The close contest has attracted national attention because a Democratic victory would flip a Senate seat in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in decades.

Mississippi does not have an automatic recount process. A candidate seeking a recount would need to pursue legal action, and the state's election laws do not provide a clearly established statewide procedure for challenging the results of a U.S. Senate general election.

For now, the outcome remains unresolved. Hyde-Smith's campaign says it expects the remaining votes to confirm her reelection, while Colom's campaign maintains that the current count points toward a Democratic victory. Election officials must finish reviewing eligible ballots before the state can determine who will represent Mississippi in the Senate.