In a Tyson Group poll, Cindy Hyde Smith, Republican U.S. Senator, has a slight advantage of 41% to 40% over Mike Espy, Democratic challenger. In March, Hyde-Smith outperformed Espy by 54% to 28%. For the Consumer Energy Alliance, the Tyson Group conducted recent polls in the Gulf Coast states on the topic of offshore drilling. FiveThirtyEight rates national pollsters and gives Tyson a grade of B/C. The poll asked questions about offshore drilling and was supported by the majority of respondents from Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. It also addressed political issues. This poll is the only one that asked voters about Hyde-Smith and Espy. This poll is the best yet for Espy (the former congressman and secretary to agriculture under the Clinton administration). His campaign released an August poll that showed him to be within 5 percentage points from Hyde-Smith. However, Hyde-Smith’s campaign also released an internal poll which indicated that the race wasn’t as close. READ MORE: Hyde-Smith and Espy campaigns publish dueling polls on Mississippi Senate race. Tyson polled 29% of Mississippians — which, if accurate, would be good news for Espy. According to the Espy campaign, the African American vote must be greater than 35% to give him a chance to win against Hyde-Smith on Nov. 3. Hyde-Smith won more than 53% of votes in November 2018, defeating Espy in a special elections runoff. The two were competing for the term of long-time Senator Thad Cochran, who had retired from health reasons. According to the poll, Hyde-Smith has a lead of 45% to 35% among male voters while Espy has a 44% advantage over 37% among female voters. In the race for African Americans, Espy is 83% to 4% ahead of Hyde-Smith, who was elected the first Black member of Congress from Mississippi in the 1800s. The poll revealed that 18% of Mississippians are undecided. READ MORE: Senator Cindy Hyde Smith dodges questions after months of being silent. Hyde-Smith has not made many public appearances in recent weeks. Political forecasters consider the race a safe or most likely hold for Republicans, who are having trouble keeping their slim majority in the U.S. Senate. This poll shows that President Donald Trump has a lead of 50% to 40% over Joe Biden, the former Vice President of Mississippi. The poll shows that in Florida, which is considered a key swing state for Trump’s possible path to victory, Biden has a slim 46%- 44% lead over Trump. SUBSCRIBE: Are your ready for the polls Register for the #MSElex Crash Course, a one-week free course. Trump leads Biden by a surprising 48% to 44% in neighboring Alabama. The 600-vote poll was conducted between Aug. 28-30. It has a margin error of +/- 4%. Espy started his television advertising campaign in September 1. Hyde-Smith will start running television ads this week.