JACKSON, Mississippi--A white Republican senator's casual reference to a "public hanging" has invigorated a special election runoff in Mississippi, fueling Democratic hopes of an upset in a conservative state with an ugly history of racist violence.
The U.S. Senate race between appointed Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy, a black former congressman and U.S. agriculture secretary, will test the power of the black vote and the viability of Democrats in a region where Republicans have dominated for decades.
The Nov. 27 runoff, which caps a congressional election cycle drawn out by recounts and too-close-to-call races, will not affect the balance of power in Congress. Republicans will hold a Senate majority even if Hyde-Smith loses and Democrats will control the House of Representatives.
Espy, 64, is a heavy underdog in the Deep South state, which has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982. But his campaign got a jolt of adrenaline when a video surfaced a week ago showing Hyde-Smith, 59, praising a supporter by saying: "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row."
The comment set off a furor in Mississippi, a state scarred by a history of racism and violence against blacks, including lynching. According to the NAACP civil rights group, Mississippi had 581 lynchings between 1882 and 1968, more than any other state. Advocacy groups conducting a voter turnout drive aimed primarily at African-Americans, who make up 38 percent of the state's residents, said their efforts had gained new urgency.
"If people recognize the importance of this moment, there is an opportunity for Secretary Espy to win this race," said Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the black Democratic mayor of Jackson, the state's largest city. "If we can show progress in a state with such historic suffering, then what does it say about the future?"
Hyde-Smith, a former state legislator appointed in April to replace retiring Senator Thad Cochran, released a statement calling the Nov. 2 comment "an exaggerated expression of regard" for a friend. She refused to apologize and has not addressed the remarks further.
