The last of the US Senate midterm races is being held in Red State Mississippi ….
This shouldn’t even be a run off….
But Republicans did not get a clear cut victory two weeks ago…
The vote is this Tuesday November 27….
…from the Cook Political Report…
Republicans are fairly confident they will win, though they acknowledge that the race has closed and Hyde-Smith is ahead by just five points. They say, however, that President Trump’s job approval rating is in the mid-50s, and both Hyde-Smith’s job approval and favorable ratings are above 50 percent. There hasn’t been a public poll released in the race since the middle of October.
Both parties have plenty of boots on the ground working to identify and turn out voters. Democratic U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey have stumped for Espy in an effort to fire up African-American voters. Numerous Democratic U.S. Senators have lent their assistance to help raise money. The Espy campaign is also touting an endorsement from former Vice President Joe Biden. President Trump intends to do two rallies on Hyde-Smith’s behalf on Monday, November 26, the day before the run-off election. As we saw on November 6, Trump did manage to motivate his base on behalf of a number of GOP Senate candidates.
The biggest unknown in this race is the degree to which voters are engaged enough to head to the polls. They are certainly being bombarded with ads across all media platforms, but they are also thinking about Thanksgiving, college football, Black Friday bargains and holiday decorating. Where does going to the polls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving fit on that list of priorities?
The odds of Hyde-Smith winning this contest are far greater than of Democrats pulling an upset, but observers might be surprised by how close the margin ends up being. The race will remain in the Lean Republican column….
Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith on Tuesday offered her first qualified apology to “anyone that was offended” by her remark that she would gladly attend a “public hanging” if one of her supporters invited her.
In the lone public debate of the runoff Senate election between Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy, the Republican senator said she meant no ill will by her remark, which she said was made to express her deep regard for a young supporter. But then she accused Democrats of distorting her comment, which was caught on video, for political gain….