2020 United States Senate election in Mississippi explained

Election Name:	2020 United States Senate election in Mississippi
Country:	Mississippi
Flag Image:	Bicentennial Banner of Mississippi.svg
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2018 United States Senate special election in Mississippi
Previous Year:	2018 (special)
Next Election:	2026 United States Senate election in Mississippi
Next Year:	2026
Election Date:	November 3, 2020
Image1:	File:Official headshot of US Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.jpg
Nominee1:	Cindy Hyde-Smith
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:	709,539
Percentage1:	54.11%
Nominee2:	Mike Espy
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:	578,806
Percentage2:	44.13%
Map Size:	250px
U.S. Senator
Before Election:	Cindy Hyde-Smith
Before Party:	Republican
After Election:	Cindy Hyde-Smith
After Party:	Republican
Turnout:	60.4%

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.

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 four to one,^[1] Hyde-Smith won by a ten-point margin; however, she underperformed Republican president Donald Trump in the concurrent presidential election by around 6 points.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Cindy Hyde-Smith, incumbent U.S. senator^[2]

Declined

• Gerard Gibert, businessman and vice chairman of the Mississippi Lottery Board^[3]
• Chris McDaniel, incumbent state senator and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2014 and 2018^[4]
• Josh Randle, former president of the Miss America Organization^[5]

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

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^{[4] [6] [7]}

Eliminated in primary

• Tobey Bartee, former military intelligence officer and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018^[8]
• Jensen Bohren, teacher, candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018^[9]

Declined

• J. P. Hughes Jr., state representative and candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi in 2019^[10]
• Brandon Presley, member of the Mississippi Public Service Commission

Results

Other candidates

Libertarian Party

Nominee

• Jimmy Edwards^[11]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
align=left	The Cook Political Report^[12]		October 29, 2020
align=left	Inside Elections^[13]		October 28, 2020
align=left	Sabato's Crystal Ball^[14]		November 2, 2020
Daily Kos^[15]		October 30, 2020
Politico^[16]		November 2, 2020
RCP^[17]		October 23, 2020
DDHQ^[18]		November 3, 2020
538^[19]		November 2, 2020
Economist^[20]		November 2, 2020

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%	–
Civiqs/Daily Kos	October 23–26, 2020	507 (LV)	± 5.3%		52%	44%	3%	2%
The Progress Campaign (D)	October 23, 2020	– (V)	–		48%	43%	–	–
Tyson Group (R)	August 28–30, 2020	600 (LV)	± 4%		41%	40%	–	18%
Garin-Hart-Yang Research (D)	July 30 – August 9, 2020	600 (LV)	± 4.1%		47%	42%	3%	8%
Public Policy Polling (D)	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%	9%
Tyson Group (R)	March 10–12, 2020	600 (LV)	–		54%	28%	–	18%
The Progress Campaign (D)	March 3–7, 2020	826 (V)	–		52%	44%	–	4%
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

County^[21]	Cindy Hyde-Smith Republican		Mike Espy Democratic		Jimmy Edwards Libertarian		Margin		Total votes
	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%		data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%
	Adams		5,416		39.37		8,190		59.53		152		1.10		-2,774		-20.16		13,758
	Alcorn		11,616		74.29		3,641		23.29		378		2.42		7,975		51.01		15,635
	Amite		4,347		60.62		2,750		38.35		74		1.03		1,597		22.27		7,171
	Attala		4,888		55.42		3,824		43.36		108		1.22		1,064		12.06		8,820
	Benton		2,320		54.21		1,868		43.64		92		2.15		452		10.56		4,280
	Bolivar		4,317		31.40		9,330		67.86		102		0.74		-5,013		-36.46		13,749
	Calhoun		4,341		65.86		2,138		32.44		112		1.70		2,203		33.42		6,591
	Carroll		3,716		64.93		1,923		33.60		84		1.47		1,793		31.33		5,723
	Chickasaw		3,913		47.96		4,134		50.67		112		1.37		-221		-2.71		8,159
	Choctaw		2,811		66.78		1,320		31.36		78		1.85		1,491		35.42		4,209
	Claiborne		555		12.37		3,907		87.05		26		0.58		-3,352		-74.69		4,488
	Clarke		5,169		61.93		3,053		36.58		125		1.50		2,116		25.35		8,347
	Clay		4,006		38.95		6,171		59.99		109		1.06		-2,165		-21.05		10,286
	Coahoma		2,133		25.05		6,337		74.41		46		0.54		-4,204		-49.37		8,516
	Copiah		6,062		46.96		6,730		52.13		118		0.91		-668		-5.17		12,910
	Covington		5,604		59.80		3,637		38.81		131		1.40		1,967		20.99		9,372
	DeSoto		43,171		56.76		31,115		40.91		1,768		2.33		12,056		15.85		76,054
	Forrest		16,079		50.81		14,871		46.99		695		2.20		1,208		3.82		31,645
	Franklin		2,833		63.56		1,570		35.23		54		1.21		1,263		28.34		4,457
	George		8,811		80.72		1,844		16.89		260		2.38		6,967		63.83		10,915
	Greene		4,395		76.84		1,196		20.91		129		2.25		3,199		55.93		5,720
	Grenada		5,654		51.72		5,120		46.84		157		1.44		534		4.88		10,931
	Hancock		14,537		70.02		5,651		27.22		573		2.76		8,886		42.80		20,761
	Harrison		43,180		57.04		30,367		40.12		2,152		2.84		12,813		16.93		75,699
	Hinds		23,661		23.65		75,467		75.44		910		0.91		-51,806		-51.77		100,038
	Holmes		1,230		15.25		6,798		84.30		36		0.45		-5,568		-69.05		8,064
	Humphreys		1,023		24.43		3,135		74.88		29		0.69		-2,112		-50.44		4,187
	Issaquena		309		45.37		367		53.89		5		0.73		-58		-8.52		681
	Itawamba		8,818		82.04		1,680		15.63		251		2.33		7,138		66.41		10,749
	Jackson		33,608		61.93		19,334		35.63		1,325		2.44		14,274		26.30		54,267
	Jasper		4,102		46.88		4,556		52.07		92		1.05		-454		-5.19		8,750
	Jefferson Davis		2,400		38.70		3,758		60.59		44		0.71		-1,358		-21.90		6,202
	Jefferson		476		12.15		3,428		87.54		12		0.31		-2,952		-75.38		3,916
	Jones		19,917		66.43		9,422		31.43		641		2.14		10,495		35.01		29,980
	Kemper		1,720		36.40		2,965		62.75		40		0.85		-1,245		-26.35		4,725
	Lafayette		12,127		51.90		10,806		46.25		432		1.85		1,321		5.65		23,365
	Lamar		19,588		68.88		8,157		28.68		693		2.44		11,431		40.20		28,438
	Lauderdale		17,082		54.89		13,537		43.50		501		1.61		3,545		11.39		31,120
	Lawrence		4,222		64.00		2,318		35.14		57		0.86		1,904		28.86		6,597
	Leake		4,991		54.21		4,123		44.79		92		1.00		868		9.43		9,206
	Lee		22,739		61.70		13,372		36.28		745		2.02		9,367		25.42		36,856
	Leflore		2,914		26.72		7,936		72.76		57		0.52		-5,022		-46.04		10,907
	Lincoln		11,378		67.72		5,256		31.28		168		1.00		6,122		36.44		16,802
	Lowndes		13,010		47.79		13,843		50.85		369		1.36		-833		-3.06		27,222
	Madison		30,038		53.42		25,374		45.12		823		1.46		4,664		8.29		56,235
	Marion		7,821		64.19		4,177		34.28		187		1.53		3,644		29.91		12,185
	Marshall		6,904		43.96		8,590		54.69		212		1.35		-1,686		-10.74		15,706
	Monroe		10,516		60.89		6,441		37.29		314		1.82		4,075		23.59		17,271
	Montgomery		2,738		53.81		2,264		44.50		86		1.69		474		9.32		5,088
	Neshoba		7,797		67.03		3,602		30.96		234		2.01		4,195		36.06		11,633
	Newton		6,659		65.77		3,290		32.49		176		1.74		3,369		33.27		10,125
	Noxubee		1,178		22.07		4,138		77.53		21		0.39		-2,960		-55.46		5,337
	Oktibbeha		8,592		43.45		10,870		54.97		313		1.58		-2,278		-11.52		19,775
	Panola		7,425		47.60		7,953		50.99		220		1.41		-528		-3.39		15,598
	Pearl River		17,814		75.33		5,053		21.37		780		3.30		12,761		53.96		23,647
	Perry		4,204		71.24		1,555		26.35		142		2.41		2,649		44.89		5,901
	Pike		8,044		46.37		9,048		52.15		257		1.48		-1,004		-5.79		17,349
	Pontotoc		10,803		75.52		3,164		22.12		337		2.36		7,639		53.40		14,304
	Prentiss		7,651		72.22		2,714		25.62		229		2.16		4,937		46.60		10,594
	Quitman		883		27.27		2,307		71.25		48		1.48		-1,424		-43.98		3,238
	Rankin		48,502		68.82		20,315		28.82		1,664		2.36		28,187		39.99		70,481
	Scott		5,933		55.28		4,649		43.31		151		1.41		1,284		11.96		10,733
	Sharkey		663		30.40		1,511		69.28		7		0.32		-848		-38.88		2,181
	Simpson		7,381		62.43		4,303		36.40		138		1.17		3,078		26.04		11,822
	Smith		6,202		74.64		1,977		23.79		130		1.57		4,225		50.85		8,309
	Stone		5,609		71.38		2,051		26.10		198		2.52		3,558		45.28		7,858
	Sunflower		2,623		27.08		7,020		72.48		42		0.43		-4,397		-45.40		9,685
	Tallahatchie		2,309		40.59		3,316		58.29		64		1.25		-1,007		-17.70		5,689
	Tate		8,071		61.98		4,694		36.05		256		1.97		3,377		25.93		13,021
	Tippah		7,394		73.69		2,432		24.24		208		2.07		4,962		49.45		10,034
	Tishomingo		7,216		79.59		1,594		17.58		256		2.82		5,622		62.01		9,066
	Tunica		814		22.78		2,717		76.04		42		1.18		-1,903		-53.26		3,573
	Union		9,572		75.63		2,660		21.02		424		3.35		6,912		54.61		12,656
	Walthall		4,005		56.54		2,993		42.25		86		1.21		1,012		14.29		7,084
	Warren		9,912		47.18		10,853		51.65		246		1.17		-941		-4.48		21,011
	Washington		4,891		26.94		13,155		72.46		109		0.60		-8,264		-45.52		18,155
	Wayne		5,984		59.35		3,954		39.22		144		1.43		2,030		20.13		10,082
	Webster		4,067		75.62		1,198		22.28		113		2.10		2,869		53.35		5,378
	Wilkinson		1,295		31.76		2,702		66.27		80		1.96		-1,407		-32.06		4,077
	Winston		4,846		52.32		4,303		46.45		114		1.23		543		5.86		9,263
	Yalobusha		3,415		52.47		3,005		46.17		88		1.35		410		6.30		6,508
	Yazoo		4,551		43.62		5,804		55.63		79		0.76		-1,253		-12.01		10,434
Totals	709,511	54.11	578,691	44.13	23,152	1.77	130,820	9.98	1,311,354

By congressional district

Hyde-Smith won 3 of 4 congressional districts.^[22]

District	Hyde-Smith	Espy	Representative
		60%	38%		Trent Kelly
		33%	66%		Bennie Thompson
		58%	41%		Michael Guest
		63%	34%		Steven Palazzo

Notes

Partisan clients

External links

• • • Web site: League of Women Voters of Mississippi . (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)

Official campaign websites

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mississippi Senate 2020 Race. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210421142343/https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary?cycle=2020&id=MSS1. 2021-04-21. OpenSecrets.
2. Web site: HYDE-SMITH, CINDY – Candidate overview. FEC.gov.
3. News: Lange. Alan. Say it ain't so. Time to talk about the 2020 senate race already?. Y'all Politics. May 22, 2019. May 23, 2019.
4. News: Douglas. William. Glueck. Katie. Get ready: The fierce Mississippi Senate race may not be ending anytime soon. McClatchy. November 28, 2018. November 30, 2018.
5. Web site: Ganucheau . Adam . Former Miss America pageant leader mulls Sen. Hyde-Smith challenge in 2020 GOP primary . Mississippi Today . November 15, 2019 . November 12, 2019.
6. Web site: ESPY, MICHAEL – Candidate overview. FEC.gov.
7. Web site: Democrat Mike Espy starts 2020 US Senate bid in Mississippi . The Philadelphia Tribune . November 15, 2019 . en.
8. Web site: Mississippi will have Democratic primary for US Senate. 2020-01-10. AP NEWS. 2020-02-13.
9. Web site: Ulmer. Sarah. Unique candidate Jensen Bohren announces candidacy for 2020 U.S. Senate run. June 17, 2019. June 17, 2019.
10. Web site: Singiser . Steve . Here's our ultimate Democratic wishlist for Senate in 2020. Who's on yours? . Daily Kos . 19 February 2019.
11. News: Espy wins Mississippi US Senate primary, setting up rematch with Hyde-Smith . May 13, 2020 . Mar 11, 2020 . Emily . Pettus . Associated Press.
12. Web site: 2020 Senate Race Ratings for October 29, 2020 . The Cook Political Report . March 11, 2021.
13. Web site: 2020 Senate Ratings . Senate Ratings . The Rothenberg Political Report . March 11, 2021.
14. Web site: 2020 Senate race ratings . Sabato's Crystal Ball . March 12, 2021.
15. Web site: 2020 Senate Race Ratings . Daily Kos Elections. March 13, 2021.
16. Web site: 2020 Election Forecast. November 19, 2019 . Politico.
17. Web site: Battle for the Senate 2020. October 23, 2020 . RCP.
18. Web site: September 2, 2020 . 2020 Senate Elections Model. September 2, 2020 . Decision Desk HQ.
19. Web site: Silver . Nate . Forecasting the race for the Senate . . September 18, 2020 . September 18, 2020.
20. Web site: November 2, 2020 . Forecasting the US elections . March 13, 2021 . The Economist.
21. Web site: Total Votes Reported by Counties for 2020 General Election . Statewide Election Management System . Secretary of State of Mississippi . February 13, 2022 .
22. Web site: DRA 2020. Daves Redistricting. August 21, 2024.