Varun Vishwanath

2026 was the Cracker Barrel Election. A blue wave swept the country, but precincts with a Cracker Barrel shifted toward Democrats by roughly twice as much as those with a Whole Foods or Starbucks.

We appreciate the hard work of election workers across Mississippi, who are facing an unusual level of pressure and attention due to this close election. The slow count and limited information should not be attributed to a lack of effort on their part. They reflect broader shortcomings in the state's reporting system and requirements. Election workers deserve our patience and respect as they complete this process.

Colom remains in an overwhelmingly strong position. Even with fewer ballots outstanding in Hinds than expected, the remaining ballots *we know about* are not sufficient for Hyde-Smith to come close to overcoming his lead. But this illustrates the uncertainty surrounding Mississippi's outstanding vote we do not have to deal with in other states like Virginia, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, etc. We had considered the possibility that Hinds had fewer ballots remaining and were monitoring it. I still expect a call by the end of the week.

Releasing a precinct-level forecast was a new step for VoteHub this year, and I'm very proud to announce the project was a big success. We plan to bring it back in future cycles. Here's how our projected precinct-level trends compared with the results.