The poll was conducted by North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling. However, Hyde-Smith appears to be in command. However, the Espy campaign sees the poll results as a positive and supports their underdog campaign. Joe O’Hern is the Espy campaign manager. He said that Hyde-Smith had been trying to “ride it out” until the November general election. This was dependent on her incumbency as well as the inherent electoral advantage of the Republican Party in the state. The Republican Party can win the election with minimal campaigning. O’Hern stated that “if this poll is indicative before paid media has begun, she isn’t going to just ride itout.” Justin Brassell, Hyde-Smith’s spokesperson, stated that the campaign hadn’t seen the PPP poll but claimed the polling has put the incumbent in a more commanding position. Brassell stated that Hyde-Smith will be campaigning more over the next few weeks. He said that “we are preparing the campaign now the state has reopened” following COVID-19 closings. “She has already conducted some telephone town halls and we will be opening campaign office field offices in near future.” Espy’s campaigning has also been restricted by the coronavirus. She was one of the 3,000 who participated in the Black Lives Matter demonstration in Jackson this weekend. The poll, which was conducted by Espy campaign on May 29th and included 871 Mississippians who accessed their phones via text messages and landlines. It has a margin error of 3.3 per cent. The Espy campaign released the poll results. PPP conducted the poll and was a national polling firm. It received a rating of B from Five Thirty Eight (a respected online site that analyses statistics and data). Hyde-Smith was appointed to the position in April 2018. Phil Bryant will replace Thad Cochran, a long-standing senator who retired for health reasons. Espy was defeated in a November 2018 special elections. They have been engaged for six years and are currently in a rematch. Hyde-Smith is the first woman to be elected to Congress from Mississippi. She has a favorable rating of 44% approval and 31% disapproval. 38% approve and 36% disapproval for Espy. According to the poll, Hyde Smith is at 19% approval and 54% disapproval among African American voters. In 1986, Espy was the first African-American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi. The PPP poll analysis found that Espy could grow where Hyde Smith performs poorly, particularly among African American voters and women. The poll found that Espy outperformed Hyde-Smith among women by 46 percent to 42 per cent. The poll’s respondents comprised 35 percent of African Americans, which make up almost 38 percent of the state population. Espy stated that his goal was for African Americans to make up 35 percent of November’s electorate when he announced his candidacy. According to Espy, research by his campaign showed that only 32 percent of the electorate were African American in 2018, when Hyde Smith won 54%-46 percent. Brassell stated that poll results from the Hyde Smith campaign have brought the race closer to the Impact Management Group poll, which had Hyde Smith at 58 percent and Espy at 31 percent. According to the PPP poll, President Donald Trump’s approval rating was 52 percent. Respondents voted for Trump in 2016, by a margin of 55 percent to 39 per cent, with 6 percent not knowing how. The poll’s most surprising finding was the margin of support for expanding Medicaid. It ranged from 57 percent to 22%. Many Republican elected officials in Mississippi are opposed to expanding Medicaid and drawing down additional federal funds to cover the health care needs of 300,000 Mississippians with low incomes. Espy has been running a campaign on improving access to health care in the state, which includes expanding Medicaid. A majority of Democratic respondents supported expanding Medicaid, while independents supported it by a margin of 47 percent to 22 percent. However, Republicans opposed it by 38 percent to 31 percent._x000D