Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Mississippi, held off a challenge from Democrat Mike Espy, a former U.S. secretary of agriculture, during a November 27 run-off election for Hyde-Smith’s spot on the U.S. Senate.
The incumbent garnered about 54 percent of the votes, compared to about 46 percent for Espy.
Hyde-Smith became a member of the U.S. Senate in April when Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant appointed her to fill the seat previously occupied by longtime Sen. Thad Cochran, who resigned because of health reasons. Upon being sworn in, she assumed Cochran’s position on the Senate Committee for Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
Prior to her appointment to the U.S. Senate, Hyde-Smith was the Mississippi commissioner of agriculture and commerce. She was elected to that position in 2011 and re-elected in 2015. Before her stint as agriculture commissioner, Hyde-Smith served as a member of the Mississippi State Senate for 12 years. Eight of those years were spent as the chairperson of the state’s senate agriculture committee.
Hyde-Smith and her husband, Mike, raise beef cattle. They are also partners in a local stockyard auction in Brookhaven.
Espy previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993, before being appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as the U.S. secretary of agriculture. He held that position for about two years. Dan Glickman was his successor as agriculture secretary.
More recently, Espy has been a practicing lawyer and consultant, specializing in government relations, public finance, agribusiness transactions, commercial law, international law, and mass tort litigation. His firms are Mike Espy, PLLC, and AE Agritrade, Inc.
Other Senate agriculture committee members recently-re-elected earlier in November were Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan; Deb Fischer, R-Nebraska; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; and Robert Casey, R-Pennsylvania. On the other side of the coin, current committee members Heidi Heitkamp, D-North Dakota, and Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana, failed to win their bids for re-election.
