Democratic challengers are barely ahead of Republican incumbents in the two uncalled U.S. Senate elections in Mississippi and Alaska, but votes are still being counted.
The races in both states have been bitterly tight for days, but Scott Colom and Mary Peltola have now slightly opened their leads over Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Dan Sullivan in Mississippi and Alaska, respectively.
The outcomes will determine just how wide of a margin Democrats will hold in the Senate after flipping seven seats so far to take back control of the upper chamber in midterm elections.
Experts cautioned early on that it would take a while for officials to declare winners in Mississippi and Alaska's Senate elections, but more headway is being made in both counts.
Here's
a look at live results.
Mississippi US Senate election live results
According to USA TODAY's latest tally as of Nov. 9 around 8:30 p.m. ET, Colom leads Hyde-Smith 49.1% to 48.8% with 99% of votes counted.
On Nov. 10, the Mississippi Secretary of State's office said 76 of the state's 82 counties have submitted uncertified results, and four counties have certified their results. The counties have until Friday, Nov. 13 to upload the results, Secretary of State Michael Watson said.
Roughly 2,300 absentee mail-in ballots have not been received, and more than 18,000 affidavit ballots – the state's version of provisional ballots – have been processed, Watson said.
Colom told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Nov. 9 that he's projecting a victory in the state.
"I follow Mississippi politics. It always – the affidavit and absentee ballots always trend Democratic," he said.
Alaska US Senate live results
In Alaska, USA TODAY's latest tally as of Nov. 10 shows Peltola with 49% of the votes to Sullivan's 47.2% with about 87.3% of ballots counted.
According to the latest data from Alaska's Division of Elections, as of Nov. 10 more than 245,000 ballots have been counted, with 401 of the state's 403 precincts reporting results.
The state has a ranked-choice voting system, which means a candidate must get more than 50% of the vote to win. If they don't, there are more rounds of counting. In this race, the ranked-choice tally wouldn't start until Nov. 18 under state law.
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on Instagram @bymelinakhan and TikTok @melina.khan2.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats slightly ahead in uncalled Senate races. See live results
