Mississippi U.S. Senate Runoff Election: Overview & Live Results
By 270toWin Staff
November 26, 2018
The final seat in the U.S. Senate will be decided today as Mississippi holds a runoff election. Polls close at 7:00 PM local time (8:00 PM Eastern). Live results will be available in the table below after that time. Reload the page for the latest totals.
The runoff is between Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and her Democratic challenger, former U.S. Rep. Mike Espy. It was necessitated when none of the four candidates in the November 6th special election received a majority of the vote.
Hyde-Smith was appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant, taking office after former Sen. Thad Cochran resigned this past April. The winner of today's runoff will serve the remainder of Cochran's term. The seat is next up for a full six-year term in the 2020 election.
Outlook
Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith is favored in this deep-red state. However, the race appeared to tighten after several racially tinged controversies involving Hyde-Smith arose. Both parties added resources, and President Trump headlined two election-eve campaign rallies.
Although Espy and Hyde-Smith were within 0.5% in the November 6th vote, the two GOP candidates together totaled nearly 58% - a 17 point margin over Espy. Interestingly, the party totals that day were nearly identical to Trump's 57.9% to 40.1% win over Clinton in 2016. The only subsequent poll, taken last week, gave Hyde-Smith a 54% to 44% edge in the two-person runoff.
Regardless of the outcome, the GOP will retain control of the Senate in 2019. The party will have 53 seats if Hyde-Smith wins, which would be a net gain of two in the 2018 elections.
