2020 United States Senate election in Mississippi

The 2020 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Mississippi, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

2020 United States Senate election in Mississippi

November 3, 2020

Nominee Cindy Hyde-Smith Mike Espy Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 709,539 578,806 Percentage 54.10% 44.13%

County Results Hyde-Smith:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Espy:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

U.S. senator before election Cindy Hyde-Smith Republican Elected U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith Republican

Incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith won reelection to a full term against Democratic nominee Mike Espy, in a rematch of the 2018 special election. Despite being outspent nearly 4 to 1, Hyde-Smith won convincingly by a nearly ten point margin.

Republican primary

Nominee

• Cindy Hyde-Smith, incumbent U.S. Senator[1]

Declined

• Gerard Gibert, businessman and vice chairman of the Mississippi Lottery Board[2]
• Chris McDaniel, incumbent state senator and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2014 and 2018[3]
• Josh Randle, former president of the Miss America Organization[4]

Endorsements

Cindy Hyde-Smith

Organizations

• Maggie's List[5]

Results

Republican primary results[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cindy Hyde-Smith (incumbent)	235,463	100.0%
Total votes			235,463	100.0%

Democratic primary

Nominee

• Mike Espy, former United States Secretary of Agriculture, former U.S. Representative for Mississippi's 2nd congressional district, and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018[3][7][8]

Eliminated in primary

• Tobey Bartee, former military intelligence officer and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018[9]
• Jensen Bohren, teacher, candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018[10]

Declined

• J. P. Hughes Jr., state representative and candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi in 2019[11]
• Brandon Presley, member of the Mississippi Public Service Commission[11]

Endorsements

Mike Espy

Organizations

• DSCC[12]
• Flip the Senate[13]
• Human Rights Campaign[14]

Results

Results by county

Map legend

•   Espy—≥90%
•   Espy—80–90%
•   Espy—70–80%
•   Bartee—50–60%

Democratic primary results[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mike Espy	250,496	93.12%
	Democratic	Tobey Bartee	11,148	4.14%
	Democratic	Jensen Bohren	7,345	2.74%
Total votes			268,989	100.0%

Other candidates

Nominee

• Jimmy Edwards[16]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[17]	Likely R	October 29, 2020
Inside Elections[18]	Safe R	September 18, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[19]	Likely R	October 8, 2020
Daily Kos[20]	Safe R	August 31, 2020
Politico[21]	Likely R	September 9, 2020
RCP[22]	Lean R	October 5, 2020
Niskanen[23]	Safe R	September 15, 2020
DDHQ[24]	Likely R	September 25, 2020
538[25]	Likely R	September 27, 2020
Economist[26]	Likely R	September 23, 2020

Endorsements

Cindy Hyde-Smith (R)

Executive Branch Officials

• Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States since 2017[27]

Organizations

• Campaign for Working Families[28]
• Huck PAC[29]
• Maggie's List[30]
• NRA Victory Fund[31]
• Susan B. Anthony List[32]
• United States Chamber of Commerce[33]

Mike Espy (D)

Executive Branch Officials

• Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States (2009-2017), U.S. Senator from Illinois (2005-2008)[34]
• Joe Biden, 47th Vice President of the United States (2009-2017), U.S. Senator from Delaware (1973-2009)[35]

U.S. Senators

• Elizabeth Warren, Senator from Massachusetts since 2013[36]

U.S. Representatives

• Bennie Thompson, Representative from MS-2 since 1993[37]

State Officials

• Stacey Abrams, Former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives[38]

Notable Individuals

• Andrew Yang, former 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidate[39]

Organizations

• Center for Biological Diversity[40]
• DSCC[41]
• Feminist Majority PAC[42]
• Congressional Black Caucus PAC[43]
• Human Rights Campaign[44]

Unions

• Mississippi AFL-CIO[45]
• National Education Association[46]

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Cindy Hyde-Smith (R)	Mike Espy (D)	Other	Undecided
Data For Progress	October 27 – November 1, 2020	562 (LV)	± 4.1%	50%	47%	4%[lower-alpha 1]	–
Civiqs/Daily Kos	October 23–26, 2020	507 (LV)	± 5.3%	52%	44%	3%[lower-alpha 2]	2%
The Progress Campaign (D)	October 23, 2020	– (V)[lower-alpha 3]	–	48%	43%	–	–
Tyson Group (R)[lower-alpha 4]	August 28–30, 2020	600 (LV)	± 4%	41%	40%	–	18%
Garin-Hart-Yang Research (D)[lower-alpha 5]	July 30 – August 9, 2020	600 (LV)	± 4.1%	47%	42%	3%[lower-alpha 6]	8%
Public Policy Polling (D)[lower-alpha 7]	May 27–28, 2020	871 (V)	± 3.3%	49%	41%	–	10%
Impact Management Group (R)	May 4–7, 2020	606 (LV)	± 4.4%	58%	31%	3%[lower-alpha 8]	9%[lower-alpha 9]
Tyson Group (R)[lower-alpha 4]	March 10–12, 2020	600 (LV)	–	54%	28%	–	18%
The Progress Campaign (D)	March 3–7, 2020	826 (V)	–	52%	44%	–	4%[lower-alpha 10]
Mason-Dixon	February 26–28, 2020	625 (LV)	± 4.0%	53%	43%	–	4%
Chism Strategies	January 3–7, 2020	618 (LV)	± 3.9%	44%	36%	–	20%

Results

United States Senate election in Mississippi, 2020[47]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Cindy Hyde-Smith (incumbent)	709,539	54.10%	+0.25%
	Democratic	Mike Espy	578,806	44.13%	-2.02%
	Libertarian	Jimmy Edwards	23,152	1.77%	N/A
Total votes			1,311,497	100.00%
	Republican hold

Notes

1. Edwards (L) with 3%; "Other candidate or write-in" with 1%
2. Edwards (L) with 2%; "Someone else" with 1%
3. Not yet released
4. Poll sponsored by the Consumer Energy Alliance, which is a pro-Keystone XL lobbying group.
5. Poll sponsored by Espy's campaign
6. "Third party" with 3%
7. Poll conducted for the Mississippi Democratic Party.
8. Edwards (L) with 3%
9. Includes "refused"
10. Listed as "other/undecided"

References

1. "HYDE-SMITH, CINDY - Candidate overview". FEC.gov.
2. Lange, Alan (May 22, 2019). "Say it ain't so. Time to talk about the 2020 senate race already?". Y'all Politics. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
3. Douglas, William; Glueck, Katie (November 28, 2018). "Get ready: The fierce Mississippi Senate race may not be ending anytime soon". McClatchy. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
4. Ganucheau, Adam (November 12, 2019). "Former Miss America pageant leader mulls Sen. Hyde-Smith challenge in 2020 GOP primary". Mississippi Today. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
5. "2020 Candidates". maggieslist.org.
6. "2020 State Republican Party Certified Primary Election Results". MS GOP. June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
7. "ESPY, MICHAEL - Candidate overview". FEC.gov.
8. "Democrat Mike Espy starts 2020 US Senate bid in Mississippi". The Philadelphia Tribune.
9. "Mississippi will have Democratic primary for US Senate". AP NEWS. January 10, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
10. Ulmer, Sarah (June 17, 2019). "Unique candidate Jensen Bohren announces candidacy for 2020 U.S. Senate run". Retrieved June 17, 2019.
11. Singiser, Steve. "Here's our ultimate Democratic wishlist for Senate in 2020. Who's on yours?". Daily Kos. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
12. "DSCC Endorses Mike Espy in Mississippi Senate Race". November 13, 2019.
13. "Our Candidates". Flip the Senate. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
14. Acosta, Lucas (March 4, 2020). "HRC Endorses Mike Espy for U.S. Senate". Human Rights Campaign.
15. "2020 State Democratic Party Certified Primary Election Results". MS DEMS. June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
16. Pettus, Emily (March 11, 2020). "Espy wins Mississippi US Senate primary, setting up rematch with Hyde-Smith". Associated Press. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
17. "2020 Senate Race Ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
18. "2020 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
19. "2020 Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
20. "Daily Kos Elections releases initial Senate race ratings for 2020". Daily Kos Elections. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
21. "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.
22. "Battle for White House". RCP. April 19, 2019.
23. "2020 Negative Partisanship and the 2020 Congressional Elections". Niskanen Center. April 28, 2020.
24. "2020 Senate Elections Model". Decision Desk HQ. September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
25. Silver, Nate (September 18, 2020). "Forecasting the race for the Senate". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
26. "Why the Democrats are our narrow favourites to win the Senate". The Economist. September 23, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
27. Geoff Pender (October 21, 2020). "Trump endorses Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi Senate race". Mississippi Today.
28. "Campaign for Working Families Endorsed Candidates".
29. "Huck PAC Mississippi Candidates".
30. "Maggie's List 2020 Candidates".
31. "NRA-PVF Mississippi Endorsements".
32. "Susan B. Anthony List 2020 Endorsed Candidates".
33. "U.S. Chamber of Commerce again endorses Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith for US Senate". www.yallpolitics.com. Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has again endorsed Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in her race to retain her seat against Democrat challenger Mike Espy.
34. "Obama endorses Espy in Mississippi Senate Race". The Hill. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
35. "U.S. Senate Candidate Mike Espy receives endorsement from Joe Biden". WMC5. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
36. "Sen. Elizabeth Warren endorses Mike Espy for U.S. Senator". June 21, 2020.
37. Adam Ganucheau (October 22, 2020). "Rep. Bennie Thompson, Democratic kingmaker, throws full support behind Mike Espy in Senate race". Mississippi Today.
38. "Stacey Abrams endorses candidates in 7 US Senate Contests". AP.
39. Frank Corder (October 15, 2020). "Yang's PAC endorses Espy, says it gives Democrats better chance to pass universal basic income". Y'all Politics.
40. https://centeractionfund.org/2020-endorsements/#MS
41. Geoff Pender (October 4, 2020). "Espy finally lands support from national Democrats in Senate race. Is it too late?". Mississippi Today.
42. "2020 – Feminist Majority PAC". feministmajoritypac.org.
43. "CBC Candidate: Mike Espy".
44. "HRC Endorses Mike Espy for U.S. Senate".
45. "Mississippi AFL-CIO endorses Mike Espy for Senate". April 7, 2020.
46. "U.S. Senate - Education Votes". educationvotes.nea.org.
47. "State of Mississippi OFFICIAL 2020 GENERAL ELECTION CERTIFIED RESULTS" (PDF). State of Mississippi Secretary of State. Retrieved December 14, 2020.

External links

• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Mississippi", Voting & Elections Toolkits
• "Mississippi: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
• "League of Women Voters of Mississippi". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
• Mississippi at Ballotpedia

Official campaign websites

• Mike Espy (D) for Senate
• Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) for Senate