The 2018 United States Senate special election in Mississippi took place on November 6, 2018, in order to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Mississippi. On April 1, 2018, a U.S. Senate vacancy was created when Republican senator Thad Cochran resigned due to health concerns.^[1] Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant appointed Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith to fill the vacancy.^[2] Hyde-Smith sought election to serve the balance of Cochran's term, which was scheduled to expire in January 2021.^[3]

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2018 United States Senate special election in Mississippi

← 2014 November 6, 2018 (first round) November 27, 2018 (runoff) 2020 →
Turnout	48.14%
Candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith Mike Espy Chris McDaniel Party Republican Democratic Republican First round 389,995 41.25% 386,742 40.90% 154,878 16.38% Runoff 486,769 53.63% 420,819 46.37% Eliminated
First round county results First round results by congressional district Runoff county results Runoff results by congressional district Hyde-Smith:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Espy:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% McDaniel:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
U.S. senator before election Cindy Hyde-Smith[lower-alpha 1] Republican Elected U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith Republican

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On November 6, 2018, per Mississippi law, a nonpartisan top-two special general election took place on the same day as the regularly scheduled U.S. Senate election for the seat then held by Roger Wicker. Party affiliations were not printed on the ballot.^[4] Because no candidate gained a simple majority of the vote, a runoff between the top two candidates, Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy,^[5] was held on November 27, 2018. Hyde-Smith defeated Espy, 53.63%-46.37%.^[6][7]

The victory made Hyde-Smith the first woman ever elected to Congress from Mississippi.^[8]

• Note: Special elections in Mississippi are officially nonpartisan; however, each candidate's political party affiliation is indicated below.

During the run-off campaign, while appearing with cattle rancher Colin Hutchinson in Tupelo, Mississippi, Hyde-Smith said, "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be in the front row." Hyde-Smith's comment immediately drew harsh criticism, given Mississippi's notorious history of lynchings of African-Americans. In response to the criticism, Hyde-Smith downplayed her comment as "an exaggerated expression of regard" and characterized the backlash as "ridiculous."^{[71][72][73][74][75][76]}

Hyde-Smith joined Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant at a news conference in Jackson, Mississippi on November 12, 2018, where she was asked repeatedly about her comment by reporters. In the footage, Hyde-Smith adamantly refused to provide any substantive answer to reporters' questions, responding on five occasions with variations of, "I put out a statement yesterday, and that's all I'm gonna say about it."^[77][78] When reporters redirected questions to Bryant, he defended Hyde-Smith's comment, and changed the subject to abortion, saying he was "confused about where the outrage is at about 20 million African American children that have been aborted."^[79]

On November 15, 2018, Hyde-Smith appeared in a video clip saying that it would be "a great idea" to make it more difficult for liberals to vote.^[80] Her campaign stated that Hyde-Smith was making an obvious joke, and the video was selectively edited. Both this and the "public hanging" video were released by Lamar White Jr., a Louisiana blogger and journalist.^[81] Attention was also drawn to photographs, posted on Facebook four years earlier, of Hyde-Smith and her husband visiting former Confederate President Jefferson Davis' home, a historic site.^[82] The photos show her wearing a Confederate hat and posing with a rifle commonly used by Confederate soldiers.^[82]

Polling

Graphical summary

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More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Cindy Hyde-Smith	Mike Espy	Other	Undecided
Change Research (D)	November 25, 2018	1,211	–	51%	46%	–	–
JMC Analytics/Bold Blue Campaigns (D)	November 19–21 and 23–24, 2018	684	± 4.0%	54%	44%	–	1%
NBC News/Marist	October 13–18, 2018	511 LV	± 6.1%	50%	36%	1%	13%
		856 RV	± 4.7%	47%	38%	1%	14%
The Mellman Group (D-Espy)	August 1–7, 2018	600	± 4.0%	38%	41%	–	–
Triumph Campaigns	July 30–31, 2018	2,100	± 3.5%	48%	34%	–	18%
Mason-Dixon	April 12–14, 2018	625	± 4.0%	46%	34%	–	20%
Triumph Campaigns	April 10–11, 2018	1,000	± 3.0%	42%	36%	–	23%

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More information Hypothetical polling, Poll source ...

Hypothetical polling

with Chris McDaniel and Mike Espy Poll source Date(s) administered Sample size Margin of error Chris McDaniel Mike Espy Other Undecided Marist College October 13–18, 2018 511 LV ± 6.1% 36% 43% 2% 19% 856 RV ± 4.7% 35% 43% 2% 19% The Mellman Group (D–Espy) August 1–7, 2018 600 ± 4.0% 27% 45% – – Triumph Campaigns July 30–31, 2018 2,100 ± 3.5% 26% 41% – 33% Mason-Dixon April 12–14, 2018 625 ± 4.0% 40% 42% – 18% Triumph Campaigns April 10–11, 2018 1,000 ± 3.0% 24% 43% – 33%

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