Here are their last predictions before election day: McCain won every single pre-election poll, each with at least 50% of the vote with the exception of the one of them.

[18] White Democrats began splitting their tickets in national elections as early as the 1940s when the national party became more friendly to the Civil Rights Movement, culminating when Barry Goldwater carried the state with a staggering 87 percent of the vote in 1964.

The Republican trend accelerated in the late 1970s with the rise of the religious right, which appealed to its status as a Bible Belt state.

The last Democratic presidential nominee to win Mississippi was Jimmy Carter in 1976, even then, he only won it by 1.9 points.

Due to its status as a safe red state, little campaigning took place in Mississippi by either of the two major party candidates.

In 2008, Barack Obama was able to improve on Kerry's performance by six percent, mainly due to the higher African American turnout.

In contrast, McCain's margins came from the regions bordering the Gulf Coast, the northeast Appalachian area and the Jackson and Memphis suburbs.

Senator Thad Cochran was reelected with 61.44% of the vote over Democrat Erik Fleming who received 38.56%.

Senator Roger Wicker stood for election as well in 2008 against former Democratic Governor Ronnie Musgrove.

The race was expected to be much closer, but the Republicans ran ads accusing Musgrove of supporting gay rights, not a popular position in this strongly socially conservative state.