Newton County residents chose former Secretary of Agriculture Cindy Hyde-Smith as the next Mississippi Senator in a runoff election Tuesday.
With no candidate receiving more than 50 percent of the vote in the Nov. 6 special election to fill Sen. Thad Cochran’s seat, the runoff election, between Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy, a Yazoo City native and former Secretary of Agriculture under President Bill Clinton was held to determine who would serve out the remaining two years of Cochran’s term.
In the weeks preceding the runoff, Mississippi saw national leaders such as President Donald Trump and Sen. Cory Booker host rallies to garner support for the candidates and increase voter turnout.
Of the 6691 votes cast in Newton County’s Tuesday, Hyde-Smith received 4460 or 66.75 percent of the vote. Her opponent, Mike Espy, received 2213 votes, or 33.12 percent. Nine write-in votes were also recorded.
Voter turnout was slightly more than half the registered voters in the county, 50.28 percent, about 2 percent lower than the Nov. 6 election.
Circuit Clerk Mike Butler said Wednesday those totals reflect all votes cast at voting precincts as well as 247 absentee ballots. The Circuit Clerk’s Office was still in the process of verifying affidavit ballots, he said, but he hoped to have everything finished by the end of the day.
“We’ve still got some affidavits that need to be counted,” he said.
Hyde-Smith’s victory in Newton County was mirrored statewide, with about 55 percent of the vote for her and 46 percent for Espy. Early results showed Espy polling slightly higher than the Nov. 6 special election but not enough to overcome his opponent.
