Both Parties Plead For Cash For The Fight Over Mississippi And Alaska’s Senate Seats

Senate campaigns raised at least $1.3 billion for this year’s midterms.

But both parties want their donors to open up their checkbooks one last time for the fight over the final two seats.

The race is on to raise cash in both Alaska and Mississippi, the only two Senate seats that remain uncalled as of Thursday afternoon. And both are looking to be headed for a photo finish, setting off parties scrambling to raise money.

The Senate Republicans’ campaign arm and Democratic campaigns are creating recount funds, a sign that both parties are preparing for contests over the results of tight Senate races that could be determined by margins of just thousands — or even hundreds — of ballots.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee quickly created a “NRSC RECOUNT FUND” on Election Day, signing on Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) before polls had even closed in Alaska, and bringing in Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) by Wednesday morning.

And Democrats have bombarded their small-dollar donors on behalf of Scott Colom, whose shock lead over Hyde-Smith has the potential to be the upset of the cycle.

In short: Both parties are buckling in for long — and potentially expensive — efforts in the fight over the nation’s last two uncalled Senate races, even as control of the upper chamber is not in doubt.

Sullivan was trailing Democratic candidate Mary Peltola by just over 600 votes in Alaska with about three-quarters of ballots counted as of Thursday afternoon. And Hyde-Smith was trailing Colom in Mississippi by fewer than 2,000 votes with more than 95% of ballots counted.

Campaigns across party lines are urging their supporters to make donations as ballots continue to trickle in over the coming days. In an email sent Thursday, Hyde-Smith’s campaign said, “Cindy is ready to fight for every single vote, but entering into these legal battles across the state takes an enormous amount of resources. Having lawyers on the ground, monitoring every ballot, and defending our seat costs money every single hour.”

Colom’s campaign also created a “Scott Colom —-Legal Fund” linking to a contribution page urging supporters to help “make sure we protect the integrity of this election.”

And the scope of the fundraising for Colom across the Democratic Party has been all consuming, sweeping across already warring ideological camps and wrapping in would-be 2028 hopefuls.

A sampling of emails signed by Colom or his campaign reviewed by POLITICO were sent to the fundraising lists of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Fields of Change PAC, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), David Hogg’s Leaders We Deserve, Blue Amp Action, Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Nevada Gov.-elect Aaron Ford, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Sen.-elect Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris made a personal plea to her email list — still considered one of the most formidable in politics — while also reminding voters that she is not a Johnny-come-lately when it comes to the Democratic star of the moment.

“I have spent a lot of time in the South this year, including campaigning with Scott, and I know that our movement has the power to do it,” Harris wrote in the email. “Republicans are going to do everything they can to try and hold onto this seat. They’ve taken so many losses that they will not let another go without a fight.”

The NRSC; the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee; and campaigns for Sullivan, Peltola, Hyde-Smith and Colom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Still, the next steps in both races remain unclear. Alaska is notoriously a slow-counting state, with election officials having to collect ballots from isolated, far-flung locales. And the state also uses a ranked-choice system, which could further delay a call.

Should neither Sullivan nor Peltola clear 50 percent in the first round, tabulation is expected in mid-November.

And lingering over the process is the Trump administration’s since-dismissed lawsuit and criminal investigation over the alleged ballot-stacking scheme involving the second Dan Sullivan — an independent candidate with the same name as the incumbent — on the ballot.

And Mississippi does not have a legal provision for an automatic recount if a race is close, or if a candidate requests a recount. It remains unclear whether a recount will be initiated — with some sort of court action likely preceding it.