He saves the most important item for last, a photo of Thomas Jefferson Huddleston, his grandfather. This is the photo of the son of slaves, who founded an African American newspaper that had a circulation of over 100,000, established an insurance company and built more than 30 funeral homes. Also, he created the first African American hospital in the state, the Afro-American Hospital at Yazoo City. Espy said, “He’s my political idol.” He spoke only with a slight hint of the hoarse voice he used to sound during his 2018 unsuccessful bid for the United States Senate against Republican Cindy Hyde Smith. “Even though it is hard to run for Senate, and people talk about how difficult that is,” Espy said. He is running against Hyde Smith in 2020 for the U.S Senate. The Yazoo City native has released a video via email and social networking announcing his intention to run again for the 2020 election. Espy, 65 years old, stated that he did not know the millennials at the 2018 session. It was obvious…What we tried to do in video is connect us to our past and to our legacy.” Espy’s path towards victory appears distant. Espy’s announcement is coming only one week after Mississippi Democrats lost Attorney General Jim Hood to Republican Lt. Governor. Tate Reeves. The Republicans won all eight state offices on Tuesday, building on their large majority in the state Legislature. Espy, who ran for Hood and other Democrats in the campaign, believes that he can win despite these losses. This path begins with building on 2018’s success. After neither candidate had received a majority of the vote in the first election, Espy and Hyde Smith advanced to the special election. Espy won 46.4 percent against Hyde Smith, who was appointed in 2018 to fill the gap. Espy believes that he can overcome some of his mistakes in 2018 and succeed in 2020, despite the growing Republican momentum in the state. His strategy revolves around: Espy stated that there are members in his party with whom he disagrees on issues such as gun control, immigration, and Medicare for All. He said, “I’m not for open borders.” “I support legal immigration. He does not want to run against his party. Espy stated that he had been following the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. He said that he was concerned about possible abuse of power and that he would be an independent voice in the Senate – whatever is best for Mississippi.” Espy also said that a national research organization’s analysis of 2018 results showed that Trump received approximately 95 percent of those votes. According to analysis, he received 18% of the white vote. According to the analysis, Espy disagrees with the 2018 pollsters who stated that the African American vote share was 35% in 2018. Espy stated that he must increase black representation in the electorate, and attract more white voters to be successful in 2020. Espy said, “It’s an equation. You have to work both ends.” He said that he was going after everyone. The state’s mid-term record of more than 900,000.000 Mississippians voting in the runoff election was set last year. More than 1,000,000 people are expected to vote in a presidential election. It is unlikely that Trump will travel to Mississippi in the late stages of the electoral process to run for Hyde Smith, as he did in 2018, which was three times. Trump will likely be focusing on swing states to secure his re-election. Espy referred to controversial statements Hyde-Smith made about his willingness to go to a public hanging in 2018, and joked about voter suppression. Espy stated that he wanted to get started campaigning as soon as possible, but that the primary elections for the party are only a few months away in March.