By — Laura Santhanam Laura Santhanam Leave a comment 0comments Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/white-voters-keep-mississippis-hyde-smith-in-the-senate Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter White voters keep Mississippi’s Hyde-Smith in the Senate Politics Nov 4, 2020 12:15 AM EDT Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith will hold onto her seat after defeating Mike Espy, who would have become the first Black man to serve Mississippi in the Senate since Reconstruction. Hyde-Smith won support from 72 percent of white voters, who make up a larger share of the electorate, while 95 percent of Black voters backed Espy, according to the Associated Press’ VoteCast survey preliminary data. Forecasts had favored Hyde-Smith to win. Before the polls closed, FiveThirtyEight suggested her chances of winning were 88 out of 100. Espy, former secretary of agriculture under the Clinton administration, first campaigned in 2018 against — and lost to — Hyde-Smith after the death of long-time Sen. Thad Cochran left the seat open. Hyde-Smith stirred national controversy that year after footage of her at a campaign rally revealed her saying that if she were invited to a public hanging, “I’d be on the front row.” We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Laura Santhanam Laura Santhanam Laura Santhanam is the Health Reporter and Coordinating Producer for Polling for the PBS NewsHour, where she has also worked as the Data Producer. Follow @LauraSanthanam @LauraSanthanam
Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith will hold onto her seat after defeating Mike Espy, who would have become the first Black man to serve Mississippi in the Senate since Reconstruction. Hyde-Smith won support from 72 percent of white voters, who make up a larger share of the electorate, while 95 percent of Black voters backed Espy, according to the Associated Press’ VoteCast survey preliminary data. Forecasts had favored Hyde-Smith to win. Before the polls closed, FiveThirtyEight suggested her chances of winning were 88 out of 100. Espy, former secretary of agriculture under the Clinton administration, first campaigned in 2018 against — and lost to — Hyde-Smith after the death of long-time Sen. Thad Cochran left the seat open. Hyde-Smith stirred national controversy that year after footage of her at a campaign rally revealed her saying that if she were invited to a public hanging, “I’d be on the front row.” We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now