U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith has gained 38 votes over Democratic opponent Scott Colom in the latest batch of votes released, bringing his lead down to 2,536. The latest votes come from George County, where Hyde-Smith leads overall 80%-17%. The new batch of 104 votes showed improvement for Colom in George County, though, who won nearly 30% of it.

It’s the first update in vote totals from AP since last Friday. Thousands more affidavit ballots are expected to be counted in the coming days, however. Counties have until Friday, Nov. 13, to finish counting and certify the election results. AP estimates that about 97% of votes have already been counted, with Colom leading statewide 49.1%-48.8%.

George County is named for the slaveholding white supremacist James Z. George. In 2021, Hyde-Smith opposed legislation to remove Mississippi’s statue of him from Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, along with a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

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Award-winning News Editor Ashton Pittman, a native of the South Mississippi Pine Belt, studied journalism and political science at the University of Southern Mississippi. Previously the state reporter at the Jackson Free Press, he drove national headlines and conversations with award-winning reporting about segregation academies. He has won numerous awards, including Outstanding New Journalist in the South, for his work covering immigration raids, abortion battles and even former Gov. Phil Bryant’s unusual work with “The Bad Boys of Brexit" at the Jackson Free Press. In 2021, as a Mississippi Free Press reporter, he was named the Diamond Journalist of the Year for seven southern U.S. states in the Society of Professional Journalists Diamond Awards. A trained photojournalist, Ashton lives in South Mississippi with his husband, William, and their two pit bulls, Dorothy and Dru.