After a brutally negative runoff campaign, pro-life senator Cindy Hyde-Smith defeated pro-abortion candidate Mike Espy to become Mississippi’s next elected Senator. Since Hyde-Smith was appointed to the seat and had not originally been elected, her victory makes her the first woman ever elected to Congress from Mississippi.
Hyde-Smith was appointed earlier this year by Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) to fill the seat vacated by veteran Sen. Thad Cochran (R), who stepped down for health reasons. She became the first woman to represent Mississippi in the Senate. She had previously served as the state’s commissioner of agriculture and as a member of the Mississippi State Senate.
Hyde-Smith’s 54% to 46% victory means Republicans picked up two seats in the midterms, increasing their Senate majority to 53.
In the short time since her appointment to the U.S. Senate in April 2018, Cindy Hyde-Smith has demonstrated a strong pro-life record.
Cindy Hyde-Smith voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, she voted for the Rand Paul Amendment to defund Planned Parenthood, the nation’s abortion giant, and she signed onto a letter urging the Administration to issue new prolife regulation surrounding the Title X family planning program. She also signed onto a letter urging the Administration to reverse Obama-era policy by requiring separate billing and payment for abortion coverage in Obamacare exchange plans.
During the campaign, Hyde-SMith enjoyed the support of the National Right to Life Committee as well as Women Speak Out PAC, a partner of the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, which announced a five-figure independent expenditure campaign of hard-hitting digital ads to mobilize pro-life voters across Mississippi to re-elect her and defeat Mike Espy .
The ads targeted inconsistent pro-life voters who might not be aware of the runoff election. They include a pledge to vote pro-life and help voters easily save the date and find their polling place.
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“Mike Espy is too extreme for Mississippi,” the ad’s narrator stated. “As a congressman, he co-sponsored an extreme bill that would overturn all state laws that protect unborn children and would even allow for painful late-term abortions. Mike Espy is just too extreme on abortion.”
“Mike Espy claims to oppose abortion, but his record of supporting legislation to impose abortion on demand through birth across the nation speaks louder than words,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser before the election. “SBA List is reaching out to Mississippi voters who might not be aware of this critical runoff election to educate them about Espy’s extremism and the importance of voting pro-life. The choice could not be clearer. Cindy Hyde-Smith has done an outstanding job in Washington, working diligently to stop taxpayer funding of the abortion industry and to protect babies born alive in failed abortions, while Mike Espy can’t be trusted to stand up for his constituents’ pro-life values. We urge all Mississippians concerned about protecting innocent life to get out to the polls on November 27 and re-elect Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.”
