Pam Shaw, a long-standing strategist, has focused her career on Mississippi politics to reach and turn out Black voters. Shaw, who worked in several high-profile races for the state, stated that Espy could be affected by the pandemic. Espy needs a near historic Black turnout in order to win. Shaw stated that white people don’t take COVID as seriously than Black people. Therefore, they will show up as they don’t have the fear many Black folks have about it. “If you are a Democrat, older Black people will always show up. However, you cannot count on them showing up during this pandemic. There are many older Black people in my circle who have not left their homes since March and have not missed a single vote in many, many years. “That has to be a very real concern for Espy.” Shaw stated that even inactive voters are being drawn to the political process by 2020’s unprecedented nature — the national Black Lives Matter movement, the coronavirus panademic, and the economic uncertainty it has caused. Shaw believes that this should be good news for Espy as well as other Democrats across the country. She is concerned about what a new spike in COVID-19 cases could mean for turnout in November. Shaw stated that “a lot of people, even those who are not politically active, are trying to figure how to vote” and are discussing the topic. “The Democratic convention was inspirational. All of this is great and very relevant right now. The problem for Democrats is how to turn them around? There is a certain sensitivity to the current alignment of everything. I believe that if the virus numbers drop, people will get up and take their seats and prepare to line up to vote. Shaw stated that consultants are having a hard time deciding how to reach voters if there is a pandemic. Shaw stated that Mike is trying to improve his margins among Black voters and that strategy was smart. “If he can reach the base, I believe he has a chance.” She added: “On the contrary, Cindy Hyde Smith is very lukewarm. There are not many people who strongly feel about her in one way or the other. There aren’t many people who feel strongly about Cindy.