Democrat leads by dozens of votes in surprisingly tight Mississippi Senate race

The race comes as Democrats won control over both chambers of Congress, scoring victories in deep red states such as South Carolina, Texas and Kansas, which had not elected Democratic senators in decades.

The Democratic Party had sent extra funding to the Mississippi race in recent weeks, seeing an unexpected opportunity to flip the seat.

Hyde-Smith led the race early on with about 30% of votes counted, but as more ballots were processed Colom started to gain a small edge over his opponent.

As of Wednesday morning, Colom led with just a few dozen votes.

Mississippi does not have automatic recounts for tight races or allow candidates to request recounts.