With the Mississippi Senate race still too close to call between Democratic candidate Scott Colom and Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, thousands of voters had to fill out an affidavit ballot that is still yet to be processed.

Democratic Senate nominee Scott Colom in Mississippi could be on the way to pulling off a historic victory for Democrats in the South by becoming the first Black senator elected from the state since Blanche Bruce in 1874.

Mississippi became the unlikeliest Senate battleground after a viral ad brought attention to Democrat Scott Colom's campaign.

Data: BLS via FRED; Chart: Emily Peck/Axios If you had to pick one political advertisement to sum up voters' biggest economic beef heading into the midterms, it might have been the one about, well, beef: A viral spot for Mississippi's Democratic Senate candidate, Scott Colom, making fun of his opponent's comment that people should simply "pick another protein" to deal with higher beef prices. Why it matters: The spiking cost of red meat really...

Lawyers for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Hyde-Smith told election workers to separate affidavit ballots. Colom's lawyers say that's illegal.

The Mississippi Senate election could be determined by the mail-in ballots received after Election Day, whose legality was upheld by the Supreme Court.

Annie Grayer joins The Lead.

There are just four races for U.S. Senate and governor that The Associated Press has not yet called as of Thursday. Contests in Alaska, Kansas and Mississippi have narrow margins with votes still outstanding even as the scale of Democrats’ midterm victory across the country comes into focus,