Hyde-Smith may get Senate nod

JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is expected to appoint the state’s first female member of Congress to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy created when Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) retires April 1, three state Republicans – speaking on condition of anonymity - told The Associated Press on March 20. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a 58-year-old Republican from Brookhaven, has served as the state's agriculture commissioner since 2011. Hyde-Smith will immediately be running for re-election for the nearly three remaining years of Cochran's six-year term. A special election will be Nov. 6. Two GOP sources said the governor is expected to announce his selection as early as March 21. Hyde-Smith is expected to get the backing of the national and state GOP establishment against Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel. The Tea Party backed McDaniel, who almost defeated Cochran in 2014. Democrat Mike Espy, former Clinton secretary of agriculture, claimed to have a “strong intention” of running for Cochran’s seat. If there is not a clear winner in the early November special election, a runoff will be Nov. 27. Cochran announced March 5 that he would retire April 1, citing health issues. Hyde-Smith is Mississippi's first female agriculture commissioner and one of only four women ever elected statewide. Mississippi and Vermont are the only two states never to have elected a woman to Congress. (Source: The AP 03/20/18)