The US Republicans surrounding President Donald Trump have won a run-off election in Mississippi, according to the US media, expanding their majority in the Senate in Washington. The controversial Conservative candidate, Cindy Hyde-Smith, prevailed on Tuesday night (local time) against African-American Democrat Mike Espy, sources NBC News and Fox News reported. Thus, the Republicans in the Senate in the future have 53 seats and the Democrats 47.
Hyde-Smith had made a comment for vertebrae that many observers considered racist. She said of one supporter, „If he invited me to a public execution (‚hanging‘), I would be in the front row.“ The 59-year-old later apologized for the statement, but at the same time said that the Democrats would do so a „political weapon“ against them. In Mississippi, there had been a number of lynchings against blacks.
Hyde-Smith, who is considered a great supporter of Trump, is the first woman to be elected to the Senate in Washington in the southern state. She has already held the seat provisionally since April. The state governor, Phil Bryant, had appointed her for the post because former incumbent Thad Cochran had resigned for health reasons.
