(NewsNation) — Incumbent U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is still standing at the moment, but there’s a chance the Mississippi Republican will fall to Democrat Scott Colom by the time all ballots are counted from the Nov. 3 election.

If she does lose, pundits are drawing a straight line to comments she made earlier this year when asked about high beef prices.

“You know, you have so many proteins to choose from,” Hyde-Smith, a cattle farmer, told WLOX-TV.

Colom’s camp responded with a viral ad that had some fun at her expense, with people in the message responding, “Pick another protein? I’d rather pick another senator.”

Hyde-Smith’s ‘proteins to chose from’ comment considered a major flub

NewsNation political contributor Denise Gitsham says there’s no way around the incumbent’s blunder, which she described as “political malpractice.”

“I hate to see Republicans lose, but when you make that stupid of a mistake you kind of get what you deserve,” Gitsham told “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” on Thursday.

Also not helping Hyde-Smith, says Aaron Hitefield, assistant professor of political science at Mississippi State University, is that Democrats came out in force to support Colom, a former prosecutor. In contrast, he said, Republicans seemed apathetic about Hyde-Smith in the midterm contest.

Hitefield said he’s still sifting through data, but it doesn’t look as if Republicans defected to Colom.

“Mississippi is a pretty red state, so the way I would read into it more is just incredible voter turnout and voter excitement from Democrats,” he said.