All Eyes On Mississippi And Alaska As More Democratic Upsets Loom

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Nov 4, 2026 - 15:00

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All Eyes On Mississippi And Alaska As More Democratic Upsets Loom

Collage showing a man in a white shirt with a microphone on the left, and a woman in a blue jacket standing beneath a mounted animal hide on the right. — Source:

In the new world, where America has turned so blue they’re crippin’, even two states that have been Republican strongholds for decades are giving the GOP a serious case of election-night anxiety.

Mississippi’s Senate race between Democratic challenger Scott Colom and Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith remains so close that Colom’s razor-thin lead is less than 1 percentage point. And in Alaska, incumbent Dan Sullivan (the real Dan Sullivan, not the other Dan Sullivan who joined the race to save America) is locked in a tight battle with Democrat Mary Peltola.

According to The Hill, nearly all of Mississippi’s ballots have been counted, with Colom leading Hyde-Smith by a little more than 2,000 votes. And this is Mississippi, a Southern state so racist that Northern racists go there to learn how to really be racist. It has been a reliably red stronghold for decades.

But Tuesday’s midterm elections changed the political landscape, with Democrats scoring major victories across the country and flipping both chambers of Congress. And now, even states Republicans have treated like guaranteed property are suddenly looking a little less dependable.

Should Colom, a district attorney, win, it would mark the eighth Senate seat Democrats have flipped this election cycle. It would also be a stunning rebuke of MAGA Republicans in a state that voted for Donald Trump by more than 20 percentage points in 2024.

Even Republicans seemed concerned about Hyde-Smith’s chances. Despite backing from MAGA GOP leaders, she was widely viewed as a weak campaigner, according to The Hill. Apparently, having Trump’s blessing doesn’t automatically translate into having voters’ support.

Mississippi hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982, back when breakdancing was big, and E.T. was still in movie theaters. That’s more than four decades of Republican dominance potentially coming to an end.

Meanwhile, Alaska’s Senate race is also giving Republicans heartburn. The state faces a lengthy ballot-counting process, and the outcome could end up in court if the incumbent Sullivan loses.

If you’ve not been paying attention, a retired teacher also named Daniel J. Sullivan entered the race as a Republican, allegedly as part of an effort to confuse voters and siphon support from the incumbent. Trump has threatened legal action should his preferred Sullivan lose.

Well, Trump might want to get those lawyers on standby. Peltola has a slight lead over the incumbent, with roughly three-quarters of the vote counted as of Wednesday morning.

For a party that spent years treating Mississippi and Alaska as automatic wins, this is an uncomfortable new reality. The blue wave apparently didn’t get the memo about which states were supposed to stay red.