Espy accepted a WJTV debate invitation from Jackson, and will most likely accept a similar invitation from WLBT in the coming days. It takes two to debate. Mississippi Today has asked the Hyde-Smith campaign whether they plan to participate in a discussion. Justin Brasell, a spokesperson for Hyde-Smith, stated that the campaign was invited to participate in a discussion but hadn’t decided if it could fit into the senators’ schedule. The majority of incumbent U.S. senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have agreed to debate their major-party rivals. The Hyde-Smith campaign stated to WJTV that corrupt Mike Espy wants to get all the attention he can for his failing campaign. He was too corrupt to serve the Clinton Administration, and too liberal for Mississippi. Voters in our state are confident that Cindy Hyde Smith will lead us to a bright future and don’t want to revisit Mike Espy’s past scandals.” Espy was arrested while serving as the U.S. secretary for agriculture under President Bill Clinton. He was cleared of all charges. When they were running for the long-serving Sen. ThadCochran’s seat in a special election, Hyde Smith and Espy debated. Espy resigned from health reasons. The then-Gov appointed Hyde-Smith. Phil Bryant was appointed to replace Cochran during the interim period before the special elections. Now, she is vying to be elected for a full six year term. Espy, which won more than 46% in 2018, is challenging her. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign so far has been very low-key. Hyde-Smith stated that she had been active in campaigning via the Internet, although it is hard to find examples. “Sen. “Sen. “Given Senator Hyde Smith’s availability to “do a lot” of townhall meetings and her claims that “she’s covering the state with events”, the senator has plenty of time to debate the issues that are most important to Mississippians. In 2018, Hyde Smith was also reluctant to debate. After refusing multiple invitations to debate, she finally accepted one hosted by Farm Bureau. Farm Bureau honored Hyde Smith, who was previously the commissioner for agriculture and commerce at the time she was elected to the U.S. Senate. Her family also owns cattle ranches.