The Mississippi Democratic Senate candidate that lost earlier this week, Mike Espy, filed the paperwork to run for the same position in 2020 on Friday.
Espy, who lost to appointed Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to formally announce his candidacy in 2020. Hyde-Smith prevailed in the election after the Mississippi Senate election resulted in a runoff between the two candidates.
Hyde-Smith was appointed earlier this year to replace former Sen. Thad Cochran. Since she was appointed this year and won a special election, Hyde-Smith is forced to go for reelection in 2020 instead of 2024, like the other Senators who were elected earlier this month. (RELATED: Leading Up To The Mississippi Runoff, Democrats Make It All About Racial Identity)
RIDGELAND, MS – NOVEMBER 27: Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Mike Espy speaks to reporters after voting at a polling place at Highland Colony Baptist Church, November 27, 2018 in Ridgeland, Mississippi. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Hyde-Smith had been facing backlash since early November after she joked that she would “be on the front row” if a young man she knew invited her to a public hanging. She has since apologized for the comment. President Donald Trump traveled to Mississippi the day before the runoff vote to express his support for Hyde-Smith.
If Espy wins, he’d be the state’s first black Senator since the Reconstruction era after the Civil War.