Mike Espy needs historic Black voter turnout to defeat Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in November.

Democrat Mike Espy said to defeat Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in the U.S. Senate race on Nov. 3, he will need a historic surge in Black voter turnout.

Espy, the first Black Mississippi congressman since Reconstruction and the first Black U.S. secretary of agriculture, lost to Hyde-Smith by more than 7 points in a 2018 special election runoff. But some 2020 polls have Espy as close as 1 point to Hyde-Smith, and Espy has raised more money than Hyde-Smith in all but one reporting period this year.

We asked several members of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, who represent a majority of Black Mississippians and remain in close touch with the constituencies across the state, how they think Espy is doing this year and whether they sense enthusiasm in their districts for his candidacy.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

Sen. Derrick T. Simmons, D-Greenville

“There is a lot of enthusiasm in the Delta. The Delta came out big for Mike Espy in 2018,” said state Sen. Derrick Simmons, D-Greenville, the Senate minority leader. “I think it will be even greater support in a presidential year.”

Mississippi House of Representatives

Rep. Bryant Clark, D-Pickens

Rep. Bryant Clark, D-Pickens, who represents portions of the south Delta, agreed. “I think in my area people are energized. I think it is spilling into the Senate race. I think Espy will do well in the second congressional district.”

But some members of the Legislative Black Caucus fear that there isn’t yet enough excitement to give Espy — and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden — a chance for victory in reliably Republican Mississippi. Still, even skeptical Legislative Caucus members expressed optimism that there is still time for Espy to generate that enthusiasm.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

Rep. Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez

“(Enthusiasm) has not been there so far in our community,” said Rep. Robert Johnson of Natchez, the minority leader in the House. “He needs it to explode. It is not quite exploding yet.

“He is doing well. He is working hard. People need to understand how important this election is. I am not sure they do yet.”

PODCAST: Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus members discuss how Mike Espy is doing in their communities.

When Espy announced his plans late last year to again challenge Hyde-Smith, he revealed the formula that he believed would guarantee a victory. That consisted of an increase in Black voter turnout by 3% from the 32.5% that he earned in the 2018 special election. Espy also seeks to increase his share of the white vote from the 2018 special election by 4% to 22%.

In that 2018 special election runoff, Espy garnered just under 47% of the vote against Hyde-Smith, who became the first woman elected from Mississippi to the U.S. Senate. Most national political forecasters rate the Mississippi Senate race as a safe Republican seat, though there is a recent poll indicating a 1% Hyde-Smith lead. Some, including the Hyde-Smith campaign, question the findings of that poll.

On the national MSNBC television show hosted by Lawrence O’Donnell last week, Espy said people around the nation might not realize Mississippi has the highest percent of African Americans in the nation at about 38%.

“So we have a lot to work with from the beginning,” said Espy, vying to be the first African American elected by popular vote to the Senate from Mississippi and the first African American to win statewide office since the 1800s. “All we have to do is build our coalition — just get out the Black voters like never before and get enough white votes in the suburbs, in the college towns or on the Mississippi Gulf Coast to build that coalition to do what we need to do and we are doing it.”

READ MORE: Espy places race at center of his Senate campaign.

Espy believes his effort to drive up Black voter turnout will be helped by having Democrats Biden and Kamala Harris on the ballot. Harris is vying to become the first Black and Indian American woman elected to the office of vice president. Espy also said interest in the November election could be bolstered as Mississippi voters are being asked to approve or reject a replacement for the 126-year-old state flag that included the Confederate battle emblem in its design.

State Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, said she agreed that multiple issues on the ballot this November could attract African American voters to the polls. She said those issues already are attracting voters in Hinds County, home of Jackson, the state’s capital city and home by substantial margin of the largest concentration of Black voters.

“There is a lot of excitement for the Nov. 3 election and I have seen that,” she said. “At the Hinds County Courthouse, daily, people are standing in line up to an hour or more to vote by absentee. “

Mississippi is one of the few states that does not have no excuse early voting or mail-in voting, but the elderly, people who are going to be away from their home on Election Day, the disabled and some impacted by the coronavirus can vote early.

“If they could vote tomorrow, they’d be rushing to the precincts even in the midst of grappling with a pandemic,” Summers said. “They are excited about being civically engaged. And they’re certainly excited about supporting Secretary Espy.”

Rogelio V. Solis, Associated Press

Sen. Sollie Norwood, D-Jackson

State Sen. Sollie Norwood, D-Jackson, added the surge in fundraising to the Espy campaign in recent months will provide the money to help with get out the vote efforts. Espy has said that the contributions he received in the 2018 election for the most part came in late, and his campaign was not able to plan in an effective manner how to spend the funds.

“The timeline that he had to prepare and to run last time was difficult,” Norwood said. “Actually, I don’t think Mike ever stopped running, you know, physically and mentally. I think he kept running, which is a good thing, his contacts in the community.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic has limited Espy’s ability to campaign, he has been engaged in more events in recent weeks. His campaign normally holds the events outdoors and mandates social distancing and mask wearing. The campaign has distributed personal protection equipment to members of the community in various areas of the state.

State Sen. Tammy Witherspoon, D-Magnolia, said such an effort was effective at the Pleasant Grove East McComb Baptist Church in her district.

“I think his support is picking up as it gets closer to Election Day,” Witherspoon said.

At a similar event in Greenwood, Espy was accompanied by veteran Sen. David Jordan, who is active in the influential Greenwood Voters League.

Rogelio V. Solis / Associated Press

State Sen. Angela Turner Ford, D-West Point

Sen. Angela Turner Ford, D-West Point, chair of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, said Espy also was effective at an event in her hometown that she attended. But she said the caucus has not officially endorsed Espy.

“Many individual members have endorsed him,” said Turner Ford. “In terms of a group, we have not endorsed candidates — at least during my years as chair we have not.”

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Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

Gov. Tate Reeves votes at Liberty Baptist Church during the GOP runoff elections in August 2019.

In Mississippi, those entering a school, a Wendy’s or a Walmart must wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But those entering packed polling places don’t have to don one.

“This is absolute insanity,” said Dr. Claude Earl Fox III, a Mississippi native and former head of public health in Alabama. “What’s to be gained by a no-mask requirement on Election Day?”

Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson says masks can’t be mandated at the polls this November because it’s a federal election.

Assistant Secretary of State Kendra James explained that while their office recommends wearing masks, “the governor, nor anyone else, may impose requirements on voting. No entity other than Congress, the Mississippi Legislature or a validly enacted constitutional amendment may place requirements, such as wearing a mask, on voters.”

That hasn’t stopped some governors from stepping in. Minnesota’s governor ordered voters to wear masks to polling precincts.

Some groups challenged that mandate, saying that wearing a mask violates the First Amendment, but a federal judge dismissed the challenge, saying, “There is no question that Minnesota has the constitutional authority to enact measures to protect the health and safety of its citizens.”

ABC News contacted all 50 states about their mask requirements on Election Day. Of the 39 that responded, 33 plan to require masks or strongly recommend them. Of those that didn’t respond, seven have a mask mandate in place.

In Mississippi, state Rep. Jeramey Anderson, D-Escatawpa, introduced a bill that failed to pass that would have required all voters to wear a mask in and around polling places.

“Voters who aren’t wearing masks could put public health at risk during the coming presidential election and elections following,” Anderson wrote.

Hinds County is requiring voters to wear masks on Election Day.

“We will be providing masks to people that do not have them,” said Hinds County Circuit Clerk Zack Wallace. “We don’t want to turn anyone down for voting.”

People can’t be denied the right to vote, Wallace said, but when it comes to masks, they have to wear them as a matter of public health and safety. Failing to do so, Wallace said, “is not taking care of people.”

On Aug. 4, Gov. Tate Reeves put in place a mask mandate for all citizens. Last week, he became the first governor to rescind that mandate.

“Public and private social gatherings and recreational activities shall be limited to groups of no more than 20 people in a single indoor space or groups of no more than 100 people in an outdoor space where individuals not in the same household are in close proximity (less than 6 feet) to each other,” his Sept. 30 order says.

He did not, however, apply this restriction to voting precincts.

Spokesman Parker Briden said Tuesday that Reeves “strongly encourages mask usage and believes that Mississippians should wear one when they go to the polls and vote.”

In a press conference on Friday, Watson said, “We need to make sure Mississippians feel safe and comfortable in going to the polls on Nov. 3.”

His office is delivering more than $500,000 worth of COVID-19 safety supplies, including hand sanitizer, gloves and masks, to circuit clerks across the state.

He said these steps ensure polling places are safe for the public, for staff and for poll workers.

But some poll workers aren’t convinced.

Ardell Hinton, a 65-year-old retiree in Ridgeland, was excited to begin training as a poll worker, but when she found out that Mississippi officials would not require voters to wear masks, she quit.

“I’m not willing to sit there for 10 or 12 hours and risk my life for that,” she said. “That’s why I backed out.”

Failure to require masks makes no sense, Hinton said. “It’s the attitude of some people saying, ‘You can’t tell me what to do.’ What happened to the idea we could sacrifice for each other? We’ve lost too many lives.”

For their part, health officials are urging voters to wear masks when they go to vote.

“No matter the activity, all possible steps should be taken to lessen the chance a virus could be transmitted between people who are in close proximity, especially when indoors,” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and dean of the School of Medicine. “Wearing a mask, keeping surfaces sanitized, socially distancing and proper, frequent hand hygiene are all proven to be effective ways to curb virus spread and should continue to be a part of our daily lives until active transmission is no longer a concern.”

Advice from health officials continues to evolve as more is learned about this strain of the coronavirus.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now say “there is evidence that under certain conditions, people with COVID-19 seem to have infected others who were more than 6 feet away.”

Fox, the former head of public health in Alabama, said with Mississippi suffering such high rates for high-risk factors for COVID-19 (diabetes, hypertension and obesity), requiring masks should be a no-brainer.

“This is a deadly disease, and it’s very indiscriminate,” Fox said. “Some will hardly suffer from it; for others, it’s going to kill them.”

Wearing a mask “has gotten politicized, which is unfortunate,” he said. “We take vaccinations, not just to protect ourselves, but to protect others. You shouldn’t have the right to endanger the lives of other people.”

Jerry Mitchell is an investigative reporter for the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization that is exposing wrongdoing, educating and empowering Mississippians, and raising up the next generation of investigative reporters. Sign up for MCIR’s newsletters here.

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I plan on voting even if I have to wear a moonsuit. But it’s a shame that during a pandemic that has taken so many lives, that there couldn’t have been ways for people who are more at threat to COVID-19 to vote safely.

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The Front Row

An essay by Kiese Laymon | October 6, 2020

I hate italics.

If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.

I’m writing a series of short essays for Mississippi Today. The series is focused on three deeply southern twentieth century photographs. I’d love to use another quote from Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith as a refrain for this first essay. I’d love to find a refrain focused on Cindy Hyde-Smith’s restless approach to poverty, her innovative ideas for equitable education, her commitment to eradicating state sanctioned premature death in Mississippi. But those quotes do not exist.

If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.

What does exist, in all its grossness, is Cindy Hyde-Smith’s lack of home-training and her callous commitment to keep Mississippi contemptible on its promise to our children. Cindy Hyde-Smith is hoping that the worst of Mississippi punishes Mike Espy for daring to become the first Black senator in the Blackest state in the union in 150 years.

Mike Espy and I are not politically aligned. But Mike Espy has far more political courage than I will ever have. I talk it. I teach it. I write it. I make Mississippi art. As much as I love our state, I do not, as a Black man born and raised in Mississippi, have the courage nor the desire to become the first Black senator in Mississippi in over 150 years. There are many reasons for this cowardice. But the primary reason is that I long to outlive my mama and grandmama. This is far harder than it should be when we live and love in a state where, in 2018, nearly eight of ten white voters supported a senatorial candidate who said, in front of cameras, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.”

Despite what the rest of the nation believes about Mississippi, we know the range of our abundance. Cindy Hyde-Smith could have longed to be on the front of row of The Sonic Boom of the South, the front row of a reading by our Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners, the front row of an exhibit at one of our prodigious museums, or the front row of a breathtaking play at our underfunded public schools. Cindy Hyde Smith, unprovoked, chose a public hanging in Mississippi as the site of her fandom. And, as quiet as it’s kept, Cindy Hyde-Smith won because she chose a public hanging in Mississippi as the site of her fandom.

If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to interview Moss Point, Mississippi, native Professor Eddie Glaude about his masterful exploration of James Baldwin’s life and work, Begin Again. To prepare for the interview, I went back and read the May 17, 1963, Time Magazine issue with Baldwin on the cover. In the left corner, right above the words “Birmingham and Beyond: The Negro’s Push for Equality” are the peculiarly spaced words “THIRTY CENTS.”

If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.

On page 24, near the top of a caption that reads, “Birmingham Cops Manhandling Negro Woman,” there is a photograph of two white officers watching three white officers assault a Black woman on the ground. One officer is grabbing the woman’s arm. One officer is restraining the woman’s legs. One officer has his knee in the woman’s neck. There is a Coca Cola poster above a cigarette sign on the door behind her. The woman is fighting from her back. She is fighting the officer with a knee on her neck. She is fighting the officer holding her arms. She is fighting the officer restraining her legs. She is fighting the officers watching. She is fighting all the folks who long to be on the front row of this orchestrated brutality. She is fighting all the folks scared to intervene.

Five white men. Plenty of politicians. Millions of eventual onlookers. One deeply southern Black woman, fighting for her life, and our dignity. This happened in Alabama. This happened in Mississippi. Fifty-seven years later, this happens in America.

If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.

At the beginning of the interview with Eddie, I asked him why James Baldwin, a renowned Harlemite who, at that point, had never stepped foot in Mississippi or the deep south, could say, “I was going to be a writer, God, Satan and Mississippi notwithstanding.”

If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.

At the end of the interview, I asked Eddie if there is anything Mississippi specifically needs to reach its promise that the United States does not need. Eddie took my question seriously, or he acted as if he was taking my question seriously as all courageous Mississippians with good home-training do. Through glassy eyes and informed sincerity, Eddie said, “If Mississippi figures this out, we’ve solved the riddle of the Sphinx. That’s it. From the depth of our poverty to the brilliance of our culture, if we respond, we unlock it all.”

If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.

As much as Mississippi has been punished and locked by the brutalizing politics of Bilbo, Barnett, Stennis, Reeves and Cindy Hyde-Smith, it has been unlocked by the direct action of Ida B. Wells, Fannie Lou Hamer, Medgar Evers, SNCC, Mamie Till, Emmett Till, and this current group of young Mississippians who will never stop fighting for Mississippi, and the nation’s, promise.

Like Eddie, these locksmiths know we can unlock it all here in Mississippi. They know we can be honest about what we’re unlocking. They know we must tell the truth about who benefits from Mississippi being, and being seen as, an impenetrable island of inequity. Who bruises here? Who blushes while eating the bruised? Who, and what, should actually be grateful in Mississippi?

If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.

In a piece called, “Since 1619,” my mother’s mentor, Margaret Walker Alexander, asked the question, “How long have I been living in hell for heaven?” Margaret Walker Alexander taught us that artistry without rigorous introspection and radical empathy is empty. I am trying to put myself in Cindy Hyde-Smith’s place. This is hard because while Black men and boys were the vast majority of folks publicly hanged in Mississippi, Black women were also publicly hanged. White men were publicly hanged. Indigenous men were publicly hanged. Yet there is no record of a white woman being publicly hanged in the state of Mississippi.

Still, if he invited me to a public hanging in Mississippi, what would I do? I know I would not be on the front row. I would likely be one of the Black Mississippians hanged, possibly for writing what should not be written, possibly for walking where I should not be walking. Mike Espy would be hanged, too, for daring to politically unlock Mississippi in the face of concerted brutality. Piss would dribble down the front of our thighs, behind our knees, off the tips of our toes into abundant Choctaw or Chickasaw land that the worst of Mississippi disfigures and depletes. Before the platform on which we were standing was taken away, I want to believe we could make eye contact with Cindy Hyde-Smith and all those loving Mississippians longing to be on the front row of a public hanging. If slack faced terror had not taken our tongues — and even if slack faced terror had — I would like to believe Mike Espy and I would mouth, “You will not win. You do not have to be this way. Mississippi is the key. We.” 

If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.

Whether standing, marching, floating from trees, or fighting from our backs, I hope we continue the courageous work of unlocking Mississippi’s abundance today, tomorrow, forever. If we cease to unlock Mississippi’s abundance, I hope we have enough home-training to be honest about our unrivaled commitment to the death, destruction, and dishonor of our children.

How long have we been living in hell for heaven?

We will win. It is true. We will win. Eddie is right. Mississippi is the key. Margaret Walker is right. We must never cease to imagine. We must never forget. We must accept that we can always choose the most courageous, the most equitable, the most graceful, the absolute best of Mississippi. We can stop choosing torture, death, anguish, the spectacle of real anti-black violence when Mississippi looks us in the face. We have a choice. We’ve had a choice. We cannot love Mississippi and accept Cindy Hyde-Smith as a senator of the Blackest, most abundant state in this nation. We do not have to be this way.

If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.
If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.

If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.

I hate italics.

Editor’s Note: We are sharing our platform with Mississippians to write essays about race. This essay is the first in the series. Click here to read our extended editor’s note about this decision.

About the Author: Kiese Laymon, a Black Southern writer born and raised in Jackson, is the Hubert McAlexander Chair of English at the University of Mississippi. He is the author of three books, including the reissued How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America which will be released in November. 

Want to hear more from Kiese? Join our exclusive event:

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U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, right, and Democrat Mike Espy shake hands following their televised Senate debate on Nov. 20, 2018. Hyde-Smith has not accepted debate invitations in 2020. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is one of just nine incumbent U.S. senators running for re-election this year who has not agreed to debate their opponent.

Hyde-Smith, who faces a challenge from former Democratic congressman Mike Espy, is among 31 incumbents running for re-election in 2020. Espy has accepted two debate invitations and has publicly chastised Hyde-Smith for not doing the same.

Hyde-Smith’s campaign has said she has been busy doing her job as senator and hasn’t had time to schedule a debate and said Espy is trying to make political hay.

The Hyde-Smith campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

“Corrupt Mike Espy is desperate to attract any attention he can get for his failing campaign,” the Hyde-Smith campaign said to WJTV in September. “He was too corrupt for the Clinton Administration and is too liberal for Mississippi. Voters in our state know we have a bright future with Cindy Hyde-Smith and have no desire to revisit Mike Espy’s past scandals.”

Mississippi politicos have surmised that Hyde-Smith — prone to gaffes on the public campaign trail — believes she has a substantial lead in the race, can ride President Donald Trump’s coattails with voters, and is otherwise laying low and trying not to give Espy’s campaign any platform.

Most of the eight other incumbent U.S. senators who have not agreed to debate face little-known, little-financed, or third party challengers. For example, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas faces just one challenger, a libertarian. Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island faces a Republican challenger whose own state party rescinded its endorsement after reports emerged that he allegedly had been involved in a domestic disturbance in 2019.

In 2018, Hyde-Smith and Espy debated when they were vying in a special election to replace longtime Sen. Thad Cochran, who resigned for health reasons. Hyde-Smith was appointed by then-Gov. Phil Bryant to replace Cochran in the interim before the special election. She is now vying for a full six-year term, and Espy, who captured more than 46% of the vote in 2018, is challenging her again.

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Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

Gov. Tate Reeves

A Hinds County Chancery Court judge has ruled that Gov. Tate Reeves’ partial veto of a COVID-19 relief bill was unconstitutional, siding with House Speaker Philip Gunn and Speaker Pro Tem Jason White, who sued over the veto in August.

Reeves said he vetoed “questionable spending” earmarks by the Legislature in the bill and said it was an attempt to “funnel money to friends with zero accountability,” and a power grab by the Legislature. Gunn said Reeves was overstepping his constitutional authority and that the Legislature has authority over spending, not the governor.

Reeves said the case will be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

“One Hinds County judge was never going to decide this,” said Parker Briden, a spokesman for Reeves. “The Supreme Court will have to decide the central question of whether spending millions on pet projects is an appropriation or a ‘condition’ on an appropriation.

“The Constitution provides a check on their (legislators’) ability to dole out money to special projects. We hope the Supreme Court will recognize that check is necessary, guaranteed by the Constitution, and should not be eliminated. We continue to maintain that someone has to hold the speaker and his crew accountable if they attempt to wrongly funnel money to favored entities.”

Hinds County Chancellor Tiffany Grove in her decision filed Monday said, “… according to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 and almost years of case law interpreting our state Constitution, Gov. Reeves’ partial veto was unconstitutional.”

Reeves vetoed $2 million lawmakers directed to the shuttered North Oak Regional Medical Center in Senatobia and $6 million earmarked to the MAGnet Community Health Center to study and try to address health disparities, such as combating the high impact COVID-19 has inflicted on the African American community. The spending was part of a $130 million bill directing Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act money to Mississippi health care and hospitals.

Grove said based on other Supreme Court decisions, the partial veto authority granted to the governor by the state Constitution only could be used to veto a a total sum of money within an appropriations bill and not the conditions on how the money was being spent.

The Legislature appropriated $91.9 million to the Mississippi Department of Health to provide funds to hospitals and other health care providers for their COVID-19 relief efforts. Reeves, the chancellor concluded, did not have the authority to veto the appropriation to some of those health care providers while concurring in providing funds to the other health care providers. She said the governor was trying to veto the conditions of how the money was being spent and multiple past rulings made it clear the governor could not veto conditions of appropriations bills.

Grove’s ruling said the bill should now be considered passed in its entirety, though it is not clear whether the health care providers that were the subjects of the partial vetoes would have time to spend the money appropriated by the Legislature. Federal law mandates states spend the money they received from the CARES Act by the end of December. And it is not clear whether the spending authority would be postponed by an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Senate Public Health Chair Hob Bryan, D-Amory, said the legislation that was approved in July had a provision that allowed the Tate County hospital in Senatobia to receive the funds only if there was an agreement before Oct 1 to reopen the hospital. Bryan said the fact that Reeves vetoed the appropriation to the Tate County hospital might have made it more difficult to craft that agreement to reopen the hospital.

Bryan said the veto was “a 100% spiteful action” by the governor.

Gunn and other members of the House leadership could not be immediately reached for comment.

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