Espy will be grateful for it. We’ll have to see what he does with it. Will this encourage African American turnout? Marty Wiseman is a former director of the Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University. He’s a political science professor. Hyde-Smith was filmed speaking in Tupelo on Saturday, and described her affection for one of her supporters. She said of one man, “If he invited me at a public hanging…I’d be there.” Mississippi has a history of white mob lynchings of African Americans. Hyde Smith dismissed the comments and said that “any attempt to make this into a negative connotation was ridiculous”. Wiseman stated that panelists will likely ask about the comments once again during the upcoming debate sponsored by Farm Bureau. Hyde Smith will then be forced to expand upon her statement. At Monday’s news conference with Governor Hyde-Smith, she will not expand on her original statement. Phil Bryant was supported by the National Right to Life group. She was repeatedly asked about her comments at the news conference, but she refused to elaborate on her original remarks. Bryant, who appointed her as senator in April, after long-serving Senator Thad Cochran quit for health reasons, defended her, saying that he understood her heart and that she didn’t mean any ill will. Nathan Shrader, a Jackson political scientist and political scientist at Millsaps College, said that you would expect a U.S. senator to speak for herself and not depend upon others. Shrader stated that the news conference performance was not surprising. She said it was emblematic of her campaign, where she focused on Trump’s support and spoke very little about policy. Hyde-Smith stated that she was looking forward to taking part in the Mississippi Farm Bureau debate on Nov. 20, to discuss the key issues, and clearly distinguish between the candidates in this crucial runoff election. This election is more than about me. It’s not about me. On Nov. 6, Espy was slightly ahead of Hyde-Smith. This was despite record turnout in the state’s midterm elections. It was also where Chris McDaniel (a Ellisville state senator) took a large portion of the Republican vote. It is unclear how voters will evaluate her comments in this unusual election, where they will go to the polls the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. However, there seems to be renewed interest in this election. National news outlets have covered Hyde-Smith’s comments about “public hanging” and her reaction to the news conference. John Hines (D-Greenville), a member the Legislative Black Caucus said that he believes the comments would generate more excitement among the African American community to vote Espy. Espy was the first African American to be elected to the U.S. House during the modern era. He said that he received at least 10 to 12 texts this morning from people asking him how he got this position. “When people who don’t normally vote, but aren’t closely involved in politics are discussing it, you know people care.” Wiseman stated that normally there is a significant dropoff in voter participation between a first election and a second round. Wiseman suggested that Hyde-Smith comments might change this dynamic. He said that Espy might have to tread carefully in order to maintain a higher turnout among African Americans while also not offending white voters, who would normally vote for the Republican but may be turned off by Hyde-Smith comments. According to Danny Blanton, Espy’s spokesperson, interest in the election is growing. The campaign’s number of Twitter followers has more than doubled since the Hyde Smith “public hanging” comments were revealed. Meanwhile, the number of Facebook fans has increased by 2,500. Blanton stated that he didn’t have any details about how much the campaign contributions had increased, if at all. Follow Mississippi Today for complete coverage of the historic runoff between Cindy Hyde Smith and Mike Espy.