What’s delaying US midterm election calls in Mississippi and Alaska?

What the report says

Two US Senate races remained undecided after the 2026 midterm elections, with Mississippi and Alaska still counting votes as of Wednesday night, according to Al Jazeera and The Associated Press. The delays matter because Democrats had already regained control of both chambers of Congress, and these final Senate results could affect the size of their majority and how easily legislation can move past a filibuster.

In Mississippi, Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democratic challenger Scott Colom were separated by a very narrow margin, with Colom ahead by about 1,138 votes when nearly all ballots had been counted. Officials still had to process several thousand mail-in ballots and an unknown number of provisional, or affidavit, ballots. State law gives counties time to certify results, and a recount is not automatic there; it would require a court order if the race remains tied or extremely close.

Alaska’s contest was also unresolved, with Democrat Mary Peltola holding a slim lead over Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan while nearly a quarter of votes were still outstanding. Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system can require several rounds of tabulation, and the state said final ranked-choice results would not be posted until November 18. Al Jazeera also noted a separate legal dispute tied to the race, in which the US Justice Department tried to block certification over the presence of two candidates with the same name, Dan Sullivan, though a federal judge dismissed that effort.