Hyde-Smith’s campaign published its own poll on Thursday. It reported that she leads by 20 points. Her camp also questioned the validity and methodology of Espy’s poll. National and state politicos are divided on whether the race is competitive. Previous polls have shown that the incumbent Republican has stronger leads in one the most red states in the country. Hyde-Smith is being challenged by Espy in the November general elections. According to the Espy telephone survey of 600 Mississippi voters, Hyde-Smith leads with 47% and Espy with 42% respectively. About 3% support a third party. This survey was Espy’s highest-scoring in publicly released polling, and he discussed the topic on a Thursday morning MSNBC program. Espy stated on MSNBC that “the ground is shifting here, Mississippi.” We saw it recently with the removal of the Confederate Flag. The majority of Mississippians want to turn the page, move us towards progress, and this poll shows a margin error of 4.1%. It was conducted by Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group. This pollster is used for high-profile Democrats such as Senator Chuck Schumer in New York, Sen. Dick Durbin in Illinois, and Gov. of Kentucky. Andy Beshear and Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Georgia governor-elect. FiveThirtyEight, which rates national surveysters, gave the firm an A/C rating. The Hyde-Smith campaign released a statement Thursday afternoon stating that the methodology used in the Espy poll was “awful”. It was noted that 600 respondents should have been surveyed in 10 days. The campaign also stated that it had “cherry-picked” independent voters. The Hyde-Smith campaign stated that the poll “emphasizes that they are on track for losing by less this time.” “Not sure that’s much for you to brag about… Mississippi is not a place where you win by mobilizing the independents. You win by electing your base voters, which Espy admits is not doing.” Hyde Smith led Espy by 49% to 41% in a May Public Policy Polling poll. A May Impact Management Group poll for Y’all Politics found Hyde Smith leading Hyde Smith by 58% to 31%. Espy was elected the first African American to the U.S. House of Representatives in Mississippi since Reconstruction in 1986. He also served as U.S. secretary for agriculture during the Clinton administration. Hyde-Smith was first appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant was the first woman elected to Congress from Mississippi in 2018. The Espy survey this week notes that previous polls were done before protests in the US and Mississippi over George Floyd’s death and the historic decision of Mississippi legislators to remove the Confederate battle icon from the state flag. In the midst of national discussions about racial inequalities in government, the Espy campaign has made race a key issue. Hyde-Smith’s 2018 comments about public hangings have been the focus of the campaign. She has been accused of “glorifying Confederate symbolism” and will be on November ballot. The referendum on replacing Mississippi’s flag, which is expected to play a role in voter turnout. Espy stated that “We have the numbers and we can win.” “We won’t just take down the flag in November, but we’re also going to take out Confederate Cindy (and send her back to museum),” Espy stated. Trump won Mississippi in 2016 with 58%. This point was called “nonsensical” by the Hyde-Smith campaign. “If Trump wins Mississippi with 10 points, there aren’t many paths to victory For Espy,” said the statement. It’s difficult to imagine many voters voting for Trump, then voting for Espy on the next ballot. The Tarrance Group was the Republican pollster. The survey was completed between June 22-25 with a margin error of 4.1%. FiveThirtyEight rates Tarrance as B/C. According to Hyde-Smith’s campaign, “(Espy) numbers are clearly an attempt by failing campaign to create press stories and boost fundraising.” “We don’t blame the campaign for trying, but our polling results will be most similar to what we did in 2018,” Joe O’Hern, Espy’s campaign manager, said in a statement: “Things just keep getting worse for Sen. Hyde Smith. Mike Espy continues to gain momentum after outraising Hyde Smith 3-to-1 and raising more money in July than Hyde Smith did for the whole second quarter.