The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Woman to fill retiring Mississippi senator’s seat
JACKSON, MISS. — Mississippi’s governor will appoint the state’s first female member of Congress to fill the Senate vacancy that will soon be created when veteran Sen. Thad Cochran retires, three state Republicans told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Cindy Hyde-Smith, a 58-year-old Republican, has served as the state’s agriculture commissioner since 2011.
Once appointed, HydeSmith will immediately be running for re-election for the nearly three years remaining in Cochran’s term. That special election will be Nov. 6. Two of the sources said Gov. Phil Bryant was expected to announce his selection of Hyde-Smith as early as today. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement was not yet official.
Hyde-Smith is expected to be backed by the national and Mississippi GOP establishment against challenges from insurgent Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel and Democrats who would like to nab a Mississippi Senate seat as part of an effort to overturn a slim GOP majority.
The tea party-backed McDaniel, who narrowly missed knocking off Cochran in 2014, said last week that he would drop a primary challenge to Mississippi’s other senator — Roger Wicker — to instead seek Cochran’s seat.
Mike Espy, a Democrat who served as President Bill Clinton’s secretary of agriculture, said Monday he has a “strong intention” to run for Cochran’s seat. In 1986, Espy became the first African-American in modern times to win a congressional seat in Mississippi.
Other candidates could yet join the race. If no one earns a majority Nov. 6, a runoff would follow Nov. 27.
Bryant, who like McDaniel benefited from substantial tea party backing, declared open war on his one-time ally after he switched races. Bryant has said he was focused on naming someone who could hold the seat for years to come.
By choosing Hyde-Smith and passing over the 70-yearold Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, Bryant follows a long Mississippi tradition of seeking to place federal lawmakers who can stay in Congress for decades and build seniority and influence. HydeSmith could be able to call on support from agricultural interests, which are strong in Mississippi, one of the nation’s most rural states.
Cochran said March 5 he will retire April 1, citing health issues. The 80-year-old first elected to the Senate in 1978 after six years in the House was the first Republican elected to the Senate from Mississippi since Reconstruction ended.