Attorney General Jim Hood, widely considered to be the Democratic Party’s best chance at the Mississippi governorship in 2003, lost this month by five and a quarter points to Republican Lieutenant Governor. Tate Reeves. Hood’s loss comes one year after an eight-point loss by Mike Espy, a former Democratic congressman to Republican Senator Cindy Hyde Smith in a 2018 special U.S. Senate Election. Perez said that Mississippi Today was in it for the long-term after Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate in Atlanta. “We made a big investment in Mississippi last year at the DNC for Mike Espy. We didn’t reach the summit, so what did you do? This year, we doubled our investment. We didn’t make it to Jim Hood’s summit. What do you think we will do next year? We will continue to invest because we believe that long-term thinking is what we need to do. We need to ensure that we continue to invest, that we build relationships and that we get closer to the top every year.” Mississippi has the highest proportion of African Americans of any state. According to Democratic operatives, black voters account for 70% of the Democratic primary electorate. Party’s top candidates in Mississippi often target this base of support. National Democrats have historically avoided investing in party’s state candidates, who are often facing better-funded Republicans in a state with a large proportion of the electorate. Hood was criticized for not spending enough on outreach to black voters in the days after his defeat. Espy, who was closer than any Democrat in Mississippi since the 1980s in winning a U.S. Senate Seat, had announced earlier this month that he would be contesting Hyde Smith’s seat in 2020. Espy, if elected, would be the first African American to be elected in a state election by popular vote in Mississippi’s history. Race played a major role in the 2018 Senate race. Hyde-Smith, during two separate campaign stops, said that she would be open to attending a public hanging. She also joked about voter suppression. Josh Randle (a potential Republican primary challenger) to Hyde Smith called into question Hyde Smith’s reputation in early November. Espy stated earlier this month that she would be the candidate who brings people together, and not to tear them apart. The importance of representing African Americans’ interests was discussed by several presidential candidates during Wednesday’s Democratic debate. Perez compared Mississippi’s future prospects with Georgia’s two-year ago in an interview after the debate. This was when Democrats capitalized on Jon Ossoff’s 2017 congressional special election defeat to flip the seat with Lucy McBath. Perez stated, “We’re going on fighting in Mississippi because we know that we can win.” “(Hood lost) by just five and a quarter points. Jim Hood is a great person. Mike Espy, too, is a great man. We’ll keep investing. You will win if you put in more and think longer term.