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One day before Mississippi voters go to the polls to vote in a special election for the US Senate, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican candidate, found herself in the middle of the election. a new scandal.
According to CNN, Hyde-Smith co-sponsored a 2007 Senate resolution of the state of Mississippi that praised a Confederate soldier for his efforts to "defend his homeland". She also defended a "revisionist vision of civil war". The measure, which can be found online, is the latest in a series of scandals that besieged Hyde-Smith during his campaign., many of them have been interpreted by critics and political observers as being related to Mississippi's long history of racism and slavery.
Hyde-Smith will face Democrat Mike Espy, former US Secretary of Agriculture, in the race for long-time Republican Senator Thad Cochran. Because neither Hyde-Smith nor Espy collected more than 50% of the votes on polling day – both received just over 40% – the race ended on November 27, as announced by surveys. Tuesday's contest marks the last Senate run of the 2018 mid-term election cycle.
The news of this measure comes as Hyde-Smith is facing a violent reaction for "joking" that she would be sitting "in the front row" at a "public hanging" in a state marred by her History of lynchings and after declaring that the vote should be "a little more difficult" for "liberal people" – remarks that she argues were made in the joke. On Sunday, it was revealed that Hyde-Smith had attended a "segregation academy" and graduated from it. Last week, photos of the Confederate soldier equipment of Hyde-Smith surfaced.
Hyde-Smith tried to recover from a catastrophic period of her campaign in the Senate, which seemed like a definite victory for her until she jeopardized her chances, in a hurry. apologizing for his "public remarks" and his remarks about the repression of voters during a debate in the Senate with Espy. – the only joint appearance of the pair before the second round election of Tuesday.
Although Hyde-Smith tried to push back the political fallout from his remarks, his polling advantage and financial prowess declined as Espy picked up speed. On Sunday, Major League Baseball asked Hyde-Smith to return his $ 5,000 donation. Other major organizations, including Walmart and AT & T, have made similar demands in recent days, after Hyde-Smith's comments on "public hanging" became viral.
While Hyde-Smith is facing an acceleration of the game before the second round, the Democrats hope to have a new blue seat in Mississippi during the last race in the Senate's mid-term election cycle of 2018. While Espy was initially considered a long-shot candidate, the Democratic Party attempts to duplicate the results of last year's special election race in Alabama, when Democrat Doug Jones is pissed off at Roy Moore – a controversial Republican candidate who has been overthrown by multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.
Even though the results of the second round on Tuesday will not change the balance of power in the Senate, Republicans hold a majority in the Senate, even in case of defeat of Hyde-Smith, if Espy came out ahead, that would limit the balance. advantage of the GOP in the Senate to four seats next year.
The strong democratic participation – especially among black voters – and a contending Republican candidate brought Jones to a surprise victory in Alabama. Espy could succeed in replicating Jones' efforts in Mississippi, where 35% of the electorate is African-American.
Still, the chances of a Democratic victory in Mississippi – a state that President Donald Trump won by almost 18 percentage points in the 2016 election and whose senator, Republican Senator Roger Wicker, was re-elected by almost 20 points earlier this month – remains to be seen . In addition, Mississippi has not elected a Democrat in the Senate since 1982 and Trump plans to infiltrate the state on the eve of the second round to reinforce the enthusiasm of Hyde-Smith and Republicans in Mississippi.
Shira Tarlo
Contact Shira Tarlo at [email protected]. To follow @shiratarlo.
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