Based on the recent party primary elections results for the United States Senate seat, even Mississippi Democrats see a glimmer of hope for the November general election.

Granted, it is only a glimmer. Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith remains a heavy favorite in Mississippi to win reelection this November and continue the GOP dominance in the state.

But across the nation, Democrats are licking their lips, believing based on turnout in party primaries and special elections, that they have an excellent chance to capture a majority of the U.S. House seats and a reasonable opportunity to win a majority in the Senate.

Time will tell, but multiple results across the nation have bolstered Democrats’ hopes as President Donald Trump remains unpopular. The belief is that strong performances in current party primary elections and special elections will bode well for the Democrats nationwide in the November midterm election, when one-third of the U.S. Senate seats and all of the 435 U.S. House seats will be on the ballot.

Democrats continue to overperform and even win in Republican strongholds. Heck, even Trump is now represented by a Democrat in the Florida state House. A Democrat just won a special election to represent the area that includes Trump’s beloved Mar-a-Lago.

In ruby red Texas, surprisingly more people voted in the Democratic primary for the United States Senate than did in the Republican primary. The 2.3 million Texans who voted in the Senate primary where James Talarico, a state House member and Presbyterian minister, defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, represented a record in the Lone Star state for a Democratic primary.

The large Democratic turnout occurred even though the hotly contested Republican primary included U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Many believe that the strong turnout in the Democratic primary could portend Republicans losing the Senate seat in November.

The Texas party primary totals are of note because the mechanics of elections there are much like those in Mississippi. In both Texas and Mississippi, people do not declare before Election Day as a Republican or Democrat. They select on Election Day in which primary to vote.

Unlike Texas, in the recent Mississippi primary for the Senate, more people, though not significantly more, voted in the Republican primary.

On the Republican side, a little more than 156,000 people voted in the election where incumbent Hyde-Smith faced one challenger. On the Democratic side, just under 150,000 voted in a three-way race where Lowndes County District Attorney Scott Colom won as easily as Hyde-Smith did on the Republican side.

While Democrats in Mississippi did not make as strong a showing as they did in Texas, they still have reason for optimism.

After all, in the last Mississippi Senate primary held in a midterm, when the office of president was not on the ballot, many more people voted on the Republican side than in the Democratic contest.

In 2018, 157,170 voted in the Republican primary where incumbent Roger Wicker’s only opponent was little known Richard Boyanton.

On the Democratic side the same year, 87,931 people voted in a six-candidate field that included then-state House Democratic leader David Baria, state Rep. Omeria Scott and philanthropist Howard Sherman, the husband of Meridian native Sela Ward, an Emmy winning actress.

Not surprisingly, Wicker won comfortably against Baria in November.

In the 2019 party primaries for Mississippi governor, significantly more people voted for the Republican candidates than the Democratic candidates. At one time, when Democrats had firm control of the state, Republican primaries seldom even occurred. But now it is the Republicans who control the state.

One of the first significant Republican primaries occurred in 1987 for governor. But in that race only 18,855 voted in the Republican primary compared to the 802,572 who voted on the Democratic side.

In the 2000s as Republican strength in the state continued to grow, their primary eventually surpassed the Democrats’ primary in terms of turnout.

The question is: Will the relatively strong showing for the Democrats in Mississippi in their recent U.S. Senate primary portend any surprises for November?