JACKSON, Miss. – The final chapter of the 2018 interim session is about to end in Mississippi, where the dominant themes of President Donald Trump and the race have combined to create a much tighter competition than could wait in one of the most deeply conservative states in the country.

Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was named to the headquarters in April, is providing unwavering support to the president who will campaign for her at two rallies on Monday, one day before the second round. Trump also thanked him on Twitter for voting for "our agenda in the Senate 100% of the time".

She clashes with Democrat Mike Espy, a former Congressman and US Secretary of Agriculture, who is seeking to become the first black senator in Mississippi since Reconstruction. And in the last weeks of the campaign, the race has become a dominant issue.

Hyde-Smith drew fire for attending a white private school founded after the desegregation of public schools ordered by the court. She was seen on a photo wearing a replica of the hat of a Confederate soldier and in a video praising a supporter saying: "When he invited me to a public hanging, I would be in the forefront . "

Mississippi has a history of racist lynchings and violence against people seeking the right to vote for black citizens. Some 38% of the state's residents are black, and Espy is trying to increase their turnout and gain support from white voters worried about Trump or racially-based stories about Hyde-Smith.

The winner on Tuesday ends the last two years of the term of Republican Senator Thad Cochran. He resigned in April because of health problems.

This is the last race in the US Senate to be decided in 2018 and it will determine whether Republicans are getting their meager majority.

Hyde-Smith's support for Trump is undeniable. She used both her opening and closing statements of the only second round campaign debate aimed at promoting Monday's presidential rallies, citing the online address for tickets. Even on trade and tariffs, where Trump's decisions could hurt Mississippi farmers, Hyde-Smith praised the president.

"I met the president and I proudly support him in negotiating these trades," she said. "Everything the Mississippi farmers want is a fair deal, and I'm delighted the president has mobilized to renegotiate these agreements."

Hyde-Smith and Trump are expected to meet at an event held Monday afternoon in the city of Tupelo, in the northeast of the country, best known for being the birthplace of Elvis Presley. Then they fly to the Gulf Coast for a larger gathering in Biloxi.

Democrats have also used star power. Former Vice President Joe Biden approved Espy, and three Democrats who could run for president in 2020 – the Sense. California's Kamala Harris, Cory Booker of New Jersey and former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick – traveled to Mississippi to campaign for the former congressman. who was Secretary of Agriculture in 1993 and 1994 under Democratic President Bill Clinton.

For Espy, participation is the key. It must close the gap in a state where Trump received 58% of the vote in 2016 and has not elected a Democrat in the US Senate since 1982.

About one-third of Mississippi voters were African-Americans in the four-day race on polling day. Espy got support from about 80% of them, against about 20% of white voters, according to VoteCast, a large poll of voters. The electorate led by the Associated Press.

If Espy's campaign can increase African-Americans' turnout to 40 percent and win 9 out of 10 votes, it would take him less than a quarter of a whitish vote to win.

Espy did not hammer Hyde-Smith on Trump at every turn. His campaign is more focused on issues such as social justice, health care and wage increases.

"My approach is first of all that of Mississippi," said Espy during the debate last week. "It means Mississippi over party, Mississippi over person – I do not care about that person's power."

Espy also chose his time carefully to talk about race. He reminds voters that Hyde-Smith was in a white academy. He and his twin sister were called racial insults during the integration of Yazoo City High School in 1969.

Hyde-Smith apologized to "anyone who was offended" by the suspended comment, claiming that she did not want to behave in any way. She and her campaign refused to talk about the Confederate hat and called the school issue a personal attack on her family to divert attention from the problems.

Walmart asked Hyde-Smith to return $ 2,000 to the campaign because of the pending comment.

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For full coverage of US mid-term elections by AP: http://apne.ws/APPolitics. Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus.