Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy will be on the ballot for Mississippi voters to fill one of the state’s two Senate seats on Nov. 3. Hyde-Smith defeated Espy in 2018 in a special election after longtime Sen. Thad Cochran resigned and former Gov. Phil Bryant appointed her to the Senate.
Hyde-Smith previously served in the state Senate as a Democrat, representing the 39th district for 12 years. She then served as the state commissioner of agriculture and commerce for eight years. In 2010, ten years into her state senate service, she changed her party affiliation to Republican.
Espy served as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under former President Bill Clinton. He also served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993 and was the first Black Mississippian to serve in Congress since Reconstruction. Espy resigned from his position as Secretary of Agriculture in 1994 while being investigated for improper receival of gifts. He was later charged with accepting improper gifts in 1997, but he was acquitted of all charges in 1998.
Hyde-Smith has refused to debate Espy during this election cycle and has repeatedly said “losing candidates and reporters” are the only people interested in a debate when asked why she would not agree to one. She has run a low-profile Senate campaign and does not speak publicly often.
Espy, who was recently endorsed by former President Barack Obama, has raised a much larger amount of campaign money than Hyde-Smith during this election. In the final weeks before the election, Espy’s campaign is using its surplus of funds to push more advertisements to Mississippians. Political pundits have speculated that Hyde-Smith believes her endorsement from President Donald Trump will carry her through the election.
Healthcare has been at the center of the divide between the two candidates. Espy supports the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare. Hyde-Smith supports the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate, repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Espy:
-Supports the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act
-First priority as Senator will be to expand broadband access to all Mississippians
-Wants to expand apprenticeships and job training programs in the state
-Wants the federal government to allow Medicare to negotiate with companies to lower drug costs for citizens
-Supports increasing teacher pay, funding teacher training programs, streamlining the teaching licensure process and expanding federal loan forgiveness
-Recently supported ballot Initiative 65, which will legalize medical marijuana in Mississippi
Hyde-Smith:
-Supports the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate the Affordable Care Act
-Wants a “balanced budget amendment” to discourage the federal government from engaging in deficit spending and increasing taxes
-Supports President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court and says she will work to appoint conservative judges
-Supports a national electronic verification system to ensure that “American jobs are filled by legal American workers”
-Is in favor of some form of police reform on a federal level and supported the bill that Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina authored earlier this year despite it not passing
-Says she will “support policies that help states, local communities, teachers and parents make decisions to improve education for our children”
