CNN is projecting that Scott Colom will defeat Cindy Hyde-Smith and become the next U.S. Senator from Mississippi, though other outlets like the Associated Press have yet to make a call on the race.

In a statement issued shortly before CNN’s projection, Colom called on Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith to concede the Senate race, arguing that no mathematical path remains for Hyde-Smith to overcome the current 4,404 gap between them.

“At this stage in the vote tally for Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race, a Cindy Hyde-Smith victory is now a mathematically impossibility,” Colom’s statement read.

Colom’s team cites a vote margin of 5,568 votes, based on both current Associated Press totals and official results from 24 Mississippi counties that have certified results and uploaded them to the state’s Statewide Election Management System. AP reports Colom’s lead stands at 4,585 votes as of 3:58 p.m. AP has not called the race.

In his statement, Colom laid out how he has overperformed his Election Day margins with affidavit and absentee ballots, even in counties where Hyde-Smith bested him. He cites winning 50.1% of affidavits and absentee ballots in Rankin County compared to 37.2% of Election Day votes; 42.4% of affidavit and mail ballots compared to 26% of Election Day votes in Prentiss County; and claims that he earned 1,063 affidavit and mail votes in Jackson County compared to Hyde-Smith’s 1,039 of the same, despite winning only 42.5% of the Election Day vote. The Jackson County vote estimates are based on totals that have not been reported to AP.

Colom argues that Harrison County has 746 affidavit ballots and that he needs to only beat his vote total of 48% on Election Day to strengthen his lead.

“The data is clear: Scott Colom will be the next U.S. Senator for Mississippi and his victory is now a guarantee. Cindy Hyde-Smith has no path to win this race and she should concede.

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Assistant Editor Kevin Edwards joins the MFP after spending more than six years in newspapers around Mississippi. A native of El Paso, Texas, Kevin moved to Cleveland in Bolivar County when he was 10 years old and has spent most of his life in the Mississippi Delta. He graduated from Delta State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in liberal studies, as well as a master’s in journalism from the University of Memphis. Following his education, he spent a year with the Birmingham, Alabama-based nonprofit Impact America in its Memphis office as an AmeriCorps member, providing free vision screenings to young children and free tax preparation for working families. His time as a reporter includes nearly four years with The Greenwood Commonwealth in Greenwood, as well as The Bolivar Commercial in Cleveland and The Commercial Dispatch in Columbus. Kevin lives in Sidon, just outside Greenwood city limits in Leflore County.