What Went Down In The Mississippi Senate Runoff Election

Small counties can sometimes produce odd results, and tiny Benton County (1,901 votes) on the Tennessee border is a good example. On Nov. 6, it went for the GOP candidates in the special election by 17 points. But Espy just won it by 3 points, a 20-point swing. But in the process, it matched 86 percent of the first-round Democratic vote but only 58 percent of the Nov. 6 Republican vote.

One of my other big takeways from tonight — whether it’s a narrow Espy or (more likely) a modest Hyde-Smith win, is that Republicans probably ought to primary her. Republicans have three current U.S. Reps in Mississippi, all in completely safe districts, plus Gov. Bryant, who is term-limited.

Coahoma County is now 100 percent reporting as well, and as a majority-black county, it could suggest that Espy succeeded in boosting African-American turnout. Espy won here 76 percent to 24 percent. The raw number of Democratic votes is 106 percent of what it was in Round 1; the raw number of Republican votes is 81 percent of what it was in Round 1.