TIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI – AT 9:45 P.M. ET:  And it shouldn't be.  There will be a runoff in the state on Tuesday for the US Senate seat vacated by Thad Cochran.  The seat is being temporarily held by Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was appointed when Cochran resigned in the spring.  Her opponent is Democrat Mike Espy.

Ordinarily, this would hardly be news.  Mississippi is a solidly Republican state, and Hyde-Smith should be walking to victory.  But a series of blundering remarks by her, interpreted by some as racially tinged, have made the waters rougher.  Espy is an African-American.  From the Washington Examiner: 

The tightening Mississippi race for U.S. Senate is starting to look a lot like a preview of the 2020 presidential election, as President Trump and a slew of potential Democratic challengers have entered the ring to fight for their party contenders.

The contest between Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democratic opponent Mike Espy is headed for a runoff on Tuesday after both candidates tied on Election Day in a race that has seen a spending frenzy on both sides of the aisle.

Hyde-Smith, who was appointed in April to temporarily fill the seat vacated by Thad Cochran, appears vulnerable in the deep-red state after becoming embroiled in a series of racially tinged controversies that have opened up a line of attack for her African-American opponent and his allies.

COMMENT:  The oddsmakers say that Hyde-White will still pull it out, but the closeness in the polls shows how hard Republicans work to lose elections.  The runoff is important.  Republicans currently stand at plus two seats in the Senate as a result of the recent election.  If they lose this seat that will go back to plus one, hardly a great achievement.

November 21, 2018