In Mississippi Senate race, "suspended" remark drives Democrats

JACKSON, Miss. (Reuters) – The mere reference of a white Republican senator to a "public hanging" has reinvigorated the second round of elections in Mississippi, fueling the Democratic hope of a dismay. in a conservative state with a horrible history of racist violence.

The US Senate race between Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy, a former Congressman and US Secretary of Agriculture, will test the power of the black vote and the viability of Democrats in a region where Republicans have dominated for decades.

On November 27, the elections end around a round of congressional elections consisting of recounts and too tight races. The result of Mississippi will not affect the balance of power in Congress, Republicans holding a Senate majority even though Hyde-Smith was losing and Democrats controlling the House of Representatives.

Espy, 64, is a heavy outsider from the Deep South State, who has not elected a Democrat in the Senate since 1982. But his campaign was rocked by adrenaline when a video surfaced there was a week-long showing Hyde-Smith, 59, praising a supporter saying, "If he invited me to a public hanging, I would be in the first row."

The comment triggered an uproar in Mississippi, a state marked by a history of racism and violence against blacks, including lynching. According to the NAACP civil rights group, Mississippi recorded 581 lynchings between 1882 and 1968, more than any other state.

Advocacy groups campaigning primarily for African Americans, who make up 38 percent of the state's population, said their efforts had gained new urgency.

"If people recognize the importance of this moment, Secretary Espy has an opportunity to win this race," said Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Democratic black mayor of Jackson, the state's largest city. "If we can show progress in a state of historical suffering, what does it say about the future?"

Hyde-Smith, a former state legislator who was appointed to replace retired Senator Thad Cochran, issued a statement qualifying the commentary for this comment at an event on November 2. "An exaggerated expression of respect" for a friend. She refused to apologize and did not respond to the remarks.

Espy, who would be Mississippi's first black senator shortly after the civil war, told reporters that Hyde-Smith's "disappointing and offensive" remarks perpetuate the stereotypes that Mississippi sought to overcome.

"There was already a strong commitment, but her comments pushed everything to a whole new level," said Cassandra Welchlin, co-director of the Mississippi Black Women Roundtable, one of two advocacy groups. involved at least in voter turnout efforts. .

Welchlin's group partners with early childhood centers, churches and associations to target infrequent black wives. Other groups focus on black registered voters who did not participate in the November 6 election, using telephone banks, texting parties and constituency actions to get them to vote.

THE ALABAMA MODEL

The Mississippi Democrats hope to recreate the coalition that propelled Democrat Doug Jones to victory in the nearby Alabama Senate, energizing black voters, especially women, and calling white voters.

Espy used the Jones race as a model, focusing on issues such as rural health care, equal pay and education. A moderate politician, he presents himself as a bridge builder in a state where Republican President Donald Trump is popular.

At a breakfast in Jackson, Espy told the black women that Jones had been elected because the women had supported him. "What it did for Doug Jones in Alabama, you have to do it for me in Mississippi," he said.

It was necessary to proceed to the second round to fill the last two years of Mr Cochran's term, since no candidate had obtained more than 50% of the vote in a special election on 6 November. Hyde-Smith and Espy, who are almost stuck at about 41%, will meet during a debate Tuesday night.

The Republican and Democratic national parties sent aid to Mississippi before the second round.

Trump will hold two congressional rallies in the US state next week, and the National Committee of Republican Senators said he was spending at least $ 800,000 on advertising. An additional $ 1 million will be allocated to the Senate Leadership Fund, an external group aligned with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

Democratic National Committees send staff to help get the vote, and the Senate-aligned majority PAC has launched a $ 500,000 purchase. Senators Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, both African-Americans and potential presidential candidates of 2020, campaigned with Espy.

"It's a race of national importance," said Harris at the breakfast in Jackson, stressing that the result "would make a difference with what we are as a country, symbolized by the fact that we are in the middle of the day. state of Mississippi ".

"CONSERVATIVE STATUS"

Hyde-Smith has called Espy too liberal for Mississippi. She boasts her support from Trump, who won the Mississippi by 18 percentage points in 2016, and is campaigning on a bus with an enlarged photo of her and Trump lying on the side.

"This race is a conservative against a liberal, and Mississippi is a conservative state," said Melissa Scallan, spokeswoman for Hyde-Smith. She declined to comment on the pending comments.

Hyde-Smith was involved in another controversy last week when a video in which she seemed to support the crackdown on Liberal students by voters was "a great idea." In a statement, the Hyde-Smith campaign said it was joking.

The second round will be reserved for supporters of Republican Chris McDaniel, a radical conservative who garnered 16.5% of the vote on November 6th, and how many remain at home or at Espy House instead of Hyde-Smith.

McDaniel had criticized Hyde-Smith, a former Democrat who had changed party in 2010, as being insufficiently conservative, but supported it.

Hal Marx, a McDaniel supporter and mayor of the small town of Petal, said that he was not enthusiastic for Hyde-Smith, but that he would vote for her.

"She's not the best choice, but on the two remaining, we need a Republican instead," said Marx, a governorship candidate next year.